ity  of  California 
iern  Regional 
•ary  Facility 


.    The  Religions  of  the  World 


GUILD  TEXT  BOOKS 


l6mo,  flexible  cloth,  each,  net  ^oc. 
The  Old  Testament  and  Its  Contents 

By  Professor  James  Robertson,  D.D. 

The  New  Testament  and  Its  Writers 

By  Rev.  J.  A.  McClymont,  D.  D. 

Our  Lord's  Teaching 

By  Rev.  James  Robertson,  D.  D. 

Lessons  on  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark 

By  Rev.  A  Irvine  Robertson,  D.D. 

Studies  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 

By  Rev.  William  Robertson,  M.  A. 

Landmarks  of  Church  History 

By  Prof.  Henry  Cowan,  D.  D. 

Religions  of  the  World 

By  Principal  G.  M.  Grant,  of  Queen's  Uni- 
versity, Canada. 

A  Handbook  of  Christian  Evidences 

By  Rev.  Alexander  Stewart,  D.D. 

Expositions  of  the  Apostles'  Creed 

By  Rev.  J.Dodds. 

The  Presbyterian  Churches: 

Their  Place  and  Power  in  Modern  Christen- 
dom.   By  Rev.  J.  N.  Ogilvie,  M.  A. 


THE  GUILD  TEXT  BOOKS 


THE 


Religions  of  the  World 


IN  RELATION  TO 
CHRISTIANITY 


Principal  G.  M.  Grant,  D.D. 

Cf  Queens  University,  Canada 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


2060924 


U*^  ^( 


EDITORIAL  NOTE 

THE  Editors  have  much  pleasure  in  issuing  this 
brief  but   luminous  account  of  the  non-Christian 
Religions   of   the   World    from    the    pen   of   the 
learned  Principal  of  Queen's  University,  Canada 
It  was  a  gratification  to  them  when  he  undertook 
the  work  at  the  request  of  a  Committee  of  his 
Mother-Church,  and  they  feel  that  there  is  reason 
for  congratulation  on  the  manner  in  which  the  task 
has  been  accomplished.     Severe  condensation  has 
been  necessary  in  order  to  treat  such  a  subject 
within  the  limits  prescribed,  but  the  Editors  are 
glad  to  think  that  this  has  not  perceptibly  impaired 
the  charm  and  vigour  of  the  writer's  style,  and 
they  anticipate  for  the  book  a  warm  welcome  from 
the  intelligent  and  large-hearted   youth  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic,  who  feel  an  interest  in  the 
life  and  thought  of  the  countless  millions  of  their 
fellow  -men  that  are  still  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
Christian  Chur 


4/c*X    CLrJfc  «U»-vvw 


AUTHOR'S    PREFACE 

WRITERS  of  text-books  for  Guilds  and  Bible  Classes 
have  sometimes  complained  of  the  difficulty  of 
treating  their  subject,  because  of  its  extent  and  of 
the  narrowness  of  the  limits  to  which  they  were 
necessarily  restricted.  If  the  complaint  is  legiti- 
mate when  only  a  phase  or  department  of  one 
religion — and  that  a  religion  known  to  the  readers 
— is  discussed,  what  shall  be  said  when  the  subject 
embraces  four  of  the  great  extant  religions  of  the 
world  ?  In  this  case  the  limitations  imposed  upon 
the  writer  must  be  obvious  to  all.  He  cannot  go 
into  details  ;  where  the  evidence  is  meagre  or  con- 
flicting, he  must  simply  give  what  he  believes  to 
be  the  truth,  without  giving  his  reasons  or  entering 
into  controversy ;  and  he  must  be  satisfied  with 
stating  "  the  fundamentals "  of  each  religion,  its 
origin,  the  laws  of  its  growth,  and  its  place  in  the 
divine  education  of  the  world,  in  such  a  way  that 
even  when  its  imperfections  or  perversions  are 
noted,  these  may  be  looked  at,  not  externally  and 
pharisaically,  but  with  understanding  and  sympa- 
thising minds.  The  writer  of  this  little  volume 
believes  tkat  Jesus  is  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the 


Vlll       THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE  WORLD 

life,"  and  that  His  religion  is  the  absolute  religion. 
Therefore,  he  believes  it  to  be  right  and  wise  to 
call  attention  to  the  excellent  features  of  other 
religions  rather  than  to  their  defects ;  to  the  good 
rather  than  to  the  bad  fruit  which  they  have 
borne ;  in  a  word,  to  treat  them  as  a  rich  man 
should  treat  his  poorer  brothers,  drawing  near  to 
and  touching  them,  getting  on  common  ground 
and  then  sharing  with  them  his  rich  inheritance. 
He  does  not  pretend  that  an  adequate  account 
will  be  found  here  of  all  the  phases  of  any  one 
of  the  great  religions ;  but  a  sketch  is  attempted, 
in  the  spirit  that  should  animate  an  intelligent 
Confucianist,  Hindoo,  Buddhist,  or  Mohammedan, 
to  whom  the  task  of  describing  Christianity  briefly 
was  assigned, 

G.  M.  GRANT. 


CONTENTS 


CHAT. 

INTRODUCTION 


1.  MOHAMMEDANISM 12 

2.  THE   CAUSES  OF  THE   SUCCESS  AND  OF   THE 

DECADENCE  OF  MOHAMMEDANISM    .         .  26 

3.  CONFUCIANISM 42 

4.  SOURCES  OF  THE  STRENGTH  AND  WEAKNESS 

OF  CONFUCIANISM    .....  63 

5.  HINDUISM 79 

6.  SOURCES  OF  THE  STRENGTH  AND  WEAKNESS 

OF  HINDUISM 96 

7.  BUDDHISM 108 

8.  SUCCESS  AND  FAILURE  OF  BUDDHISM    .  126 


THE 
RELIGIONS  OF  THE  WORLD 

INTRODUCTION 

Religion  universal— Rooted  in  human  nature — Indicates  that 
which  is  highest  in  man — Many  forms  of  religion — The 
unsystematised  and  the  systematised  religions — Decay 
of  the  former  when  in  contact  with  the  latter— Every 
systematised  religion  has  produced  a  civilisation — Each 
good  in  its  day — Eighteenth-century  idea  of  religion — 
Superiority  of  the  modern  point  of  view — Comparative 
examination  of  the  great  religions  necessary  to  prove 
that  Christianity  is  a  special  revelation — Attitude  of  the 
prophets,  of  the  apostles,  and  of  Jesus  to  other  religions 
is  the  right  attitude  for  Christian  missionaries. 

*T*HE  highest  authorities  are  now  agreed  that  "it  is 
-*-  legitimate  to  call  religion  in  its  most  general  sense 
a  universal  phenomenon  of  humanity."  l  Religion  is  a 
note  of  the  race.  It  cannot  be  derived  from  outward 
sources  any  more  than  thinking  or  loving.  There  are, 
indeed,  persons  destitute  of  religion,  just  as  there  are 
persons  destitute  of  intellect  or  affections — all  alike  to  be 
pitied  as  we  pity  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  or  the  blind — but 
normal  human  beings  are  religious.  "  Atheism  is  only 
the  attempt  not  to  be  so"  (Nitzsch). 

Religion  also  indicates  what  is  the  highest  in  man. 
It  lifts  him  above  the  senses  and  relates  him  in  some 

1  C.  P.  Tiele,  Outlines  of  the  History  of  Rtlifien  to  tht  Sfrtad 
if  the  Universal  Religions. 


t  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

way  to  the  universe,  or  the  infinite  and  eternal,  of  which 
he  is  a  part.  Hegel  says,  "  All  peoples  know  that  the 
religious  consciousness  is  that  wherein  they  possess  the 
truth  ;  and  religion  they  have  ever  regarded  as  their  true 
dignity  and  the  Sabbath  of  their  life." 

The  religions  of  the  world  may  be  classified  into 
systematised  and  unsystematised.  The  latter  include 
all  those  crude  and  incoherent  notions  by  which  savage 
tribes  explain  to  themselves  the  problems  of  existence. 
Strange  and  horrible  as  these  religions  often  are,  they 
indicate  man's  nobleness,  for  they  express  his  gropings 
after  God.  As  Vinet  puts  it,  "  They  are  painful  cries 
of  the  soul,  torn  from  its  centre  and  separated  from 
its  object."  But,  however  interesting  to  students  of 
humanity,  these  will  soon  be  only  matters  for  the  anti- 
quary ;  for,  as  certainly  as  lesser  lights  vanish  on  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  so  these  disappear  when  brought  into 
contact  with  any  coherent  religion.  Their  votaries  throw 
away  the  notions  and  misshapen  idols  of  their  fathers  for 
others  that  are  associated  with  higher  forms  of  living. 
Even  when  the  new  faith  is  only  imperfectly  apprehended, 
the  old,  at  any  rate,  is  discarded.  This  fact  or  law 
explains  the  success  of  Hinduism  in  continuing  to  bring 
within  its  pale  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  India  ;  the  success 
of  Mohammedanism  in  Central  Africa,  the  East  India 
Islands,  and  elsewhere ;  the  success  of  Buddhism  in 
Tartary,  Mongolia,  Corea,  and  Japan  ;  and  of  Chris- 
tianity among  the  Kols,  Santhals,  Bheels,  and  Karens  in 
Asia,  and  among  the  savages  of  the  Polynesian  Islands. 
It  is  a  very  different  thing  when  one  systematised  religion 
meets  another.  Victory,  then,  cannot  be  expected  to  in- 
cline to  either  side,  until  there  has  been  an  intelligent 
•tudy  by  each  of  the  sources  of  the  other's  strength,  an 
appreciation  of  the  spiritual  and  social  needs  which  it 
.  has  met,  and  an  absorption,  by  the  one  that  has  most 
inherent  excellence  and  power  of  assimilation,  of  all  in 
the  other  that  caused  it  to  be  accepted  and  retained  foi 
centuries  by  millions  of  human  beings. 

Every   systematised   religion   has   given   birth   to   • 


INTRODUCTION 


civilisation.  The  Egyptian,  Phoenician,  Hittite,  Assyrian, 
Baoylonian,  Medo- Persian,  Greek,  Roman,  and  many 
others,  with  their  attendant  civilisations,  have  passed 
away,  as  completely  as  those  that  existed  in  Mexico  and 
Peru  before  Cortez  and  Pizarro  landed  on  their  shores, 
and  it  is  sometimes  difficult  for  us  to  get  accurate  or 
adequate  knowledge  of  them.  But  others  still  stand, 
ride  by  side  with  Christianity,  great  historic  religions 
interwoven  with  civilisations  hoary  with  age.  They  are 
professed  by  great  and  compact  societies  of  industrious, 
intelligent  men  and  women.  They  are  identified 
in  the  affections  of  their  votaries  with  venerated  names, 
an  insult  to  whom  is  as  unpardonable  as  an  insult  to 
Hebrew  prophets  or  apostles,  or  even  the  Founder  of  our 
faith,  would  be  felt  to  be  by  us.  The  greatest  of  these 
extant  religions  are  the  Mohammedan,  the  Hindu,  the 
Buddhist,  and  the  Confucian.  Of  these,  therefore,  it  is 
most  necessary  to  treat.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  now 
divide  the  ground  with  Christianity.  They  have  proved 
themselves  so  enduring  and  so  suited  to  men  on  a  great 
scale  that,  if  Christianity  should  succeed  in  absorbing  and 
taking  the  place  of  one  of  them,  it  would  be  a  more 
crowning  demonstration  of  its  superiority  than  was  its 
triumph  over  the  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

Let  us  clearly  understand  that  all  these  religions  were 
blessings  to  the  peoples  among  whom  they  originated. 
They  marked  a  stage  of  progress  in  their  history.  Each 
has  a  calendar  crowded  with  the  names  of  saints  and 
martyrs.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this,1  "  No  judge,  if  he  had 
before  him  the  worst  criminal,  would  treat  him  as  most 
historians  and  theologians  have  treated  the  religions  of 
the  world."  "  There  is  no  religion,  or  if  there  is  I  do 
not  know  it,  which  does  not  say,  '  do  good,  avoid  evil. ' 
There  is  none  which  does  not  contain  what  Rabbi  Hillel 
called  the  quintessence  of  all  religions,  the  simple  warn- 
ing, 'be  good,  my  boy.'  Add  'for  God's  sake,"  and  we 
have  in  it  very  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Law  and  the 

1  Max  Mflller,  Introduction  to  the  Science  of  Religion,  pp.  216- 
•39,  858-26*. 


4  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

Prophets."  "  People  who  judge  of  religions  by  theii 
inevitable  excrescences  are  like  those  who  judge  of  the 
health  of  a  people  from  its  hospitals,  or  its  morality  from 
its  prisons.  If  we  want  to  judge  of  a  religion  we  must 
try  to  study  it  as  much  as  possible  in  the  mind  of  its 
founder ;  and  when  that  is  impossible,  as  it  too  often  is,  try 
to  find  it  in  the  lonely  chamber  and  the  sick-room  rather 
than  in  the  colleges  of  augurs  and  the  councils  of  priests." 
This  is  surely  a  legitimate  and  even  necessary  point  of 
view  from  which  to  regard  religions.  It  is,  however,  very 
different  from  that  which  prevailed  in  Britain  more  than 
a  century  ago.  Then,  a  shallow  deism  considered  all  re- 
ligions alike  as  having  originated  in  the  policy  of  statesmen 
or  the  craft  of  priests,  operating  on  the  ignorance  and 
credulity  of  the  masses,  with  the  object  of  securing  an 
effective  moral  police  or  of  gaining  wealth  and  power. 
When  all  religions  were  thus  considered  equally  worthy  of 
contempt,  the  sole  object  of  the  apologist  was  to  defend 
Christianity.  He  was  quite  willing  to  toss  all  other 
religions  to  the  wolves.  The  differences  between  Chris- 
tianity and  other  religions  were  accentuated.  To  be  a 
good  Christian  it  was  thought  as  necessary  to  believe 
that  other  religions  were  from  the  devil  as  to  believe 
that  ours  was  from  God.  Carlyle  did  not  exaggerate 
when  he  said  that  the  general  opinion,  so  recently  as  in 
his  own  day,  was  that  Mohammed,  for  instance,  "  was 
simply  a  scheming  impostor  and  his  religion  a  miserable 
piece  of  spiritual  legerdemain."  But  there  is  a  truer 
philosophy  now  respecting  religion,  and  a  truer  view  of 
man's  relation  to  a  universal  moral  order.  Religion  is 
admitted  to  have  its  basis  in  the  truth  of  things.  Man 
being  made  in  the  image  of  God,  faith  must  be  the 
highest  energy  of  his  spirit — that  by  which  he  lays  hold 
on  God  and  so  raises  himself  above  the  limitations  of 
time  and  sense  and  his  own  egoism.  The  apologist  has- 
therefore,  a  nobler  function  than  to  point  out,  as  Bishop 
Butler  well  did  in  his  day,  that  there  are  the  same  diffi- 
culties in  the  system  of  nature  as  in  religion.  He  seeks 
rather  to  show  that  religion  offers  a  solution  to  the 


INTRODUCTION 


problems  and  difficulties  of  nature  ;  and  his  object  is  not 
to  disparage  any  religion  or  to  accentuate  the  differences 
between  them,  but  to  discover  the  points  of  agreement 
and  to  find  a  common  need  which  one  common  element 
is  waiting  to  supply.  But,  when  all  religions  are  con- 
sidered legitimate  products  of  that  faith  in  the  unseen 
which  is  recognised  as  an  essential  part  of  man's  con- 
stitution, the  tendency,  on  the  part  of  hasty  generalisers, 
it  to  assume  that  Christianity  can  have  no  special  claim, 
and  that  the  differences  between  it  and  other  religions  are 
merely  accidental  It  is  even  thought  a  sign  of  narrow- 
ness or  intolerance  to  assert  that  Christianity  is  distinc- 
tive, and  that  it  has  its  root  not  only  in  the  spiritual 
nature  of  man,  but  also  in  a  Special  Revelation  from  God, 
who,  when  man  had  fallen  into  sin,  revealed  Himself  as  a 
God  of  grace.  The  true  way,  however,  to  meet  criticism 
of  this  kind  is  not  by  taking  up  a  pharisaic  attitude  towards 
other  religions,  but  by  instituting  a  thorough  and  im- 
partial examination  and  comparison  of  all.  We  believe 
in  the  superiority  of  Christianity  to  other  religions,  but 
we  cannot  entertain  this  belief  intelligently  until  after 
such  comparison.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
the  world,  too,  we  are  enabled  to  undertake  it  success- 
fully. There  is  no  great  religion,  the  content  and  the 
form  of  which  we  cannot  now  study.  The  content  or  its 
essential  ideas  must  be  tested  by  the  universal  Reason 
and  Conscience.  Here,  the  true  path  is  in  the  middle, 
between  the  two  extremes  of  what  -may  be  called  Ultra- 
montanism  and  Rationalism.  According  to  Ultra- 
montaiusm,  revelation  is  the  opposite  of  reason,  and 
reason  must  bow  in  helpless  submission  before  divine 
oracles,  without  presuming  to  understand  them.  Accord- 
ing to  Rationalism,  revelation  is  simply  a  natural  evolution 
of  reason,  and  no  special  revelation  has  ever  been  given  by 
God.  According  to  Christianity,  revelation  is  the  com- 
plement of  reason.  The  essential  identity  of  human 
reason,  to  far  as  it  goes,  with  the  divine  is  implied  all 
through  the  Bible,  and  we  can  trace  in  a  history,  which 
is  the  key  to  universal  history,  a  special  revelation  or  the 


6  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE    WORLD 

unfolding  of  the  depths  of  the  divine  nature  to  meet  the 
special  need  of  man.  Only  when  this  revelation  hag 
been  made  are  men  able  to  see  its  reasonableness  and 
its  fitness  to  be  the  religion  of  the  world.  It  then 
becomes  the  standard  by  which  we  may  compare  other 
religions.  In  order  to  know  what  reason  of  itself  can 
discover  and  can  do,  apart  from  this  special  revelation, 
we  have  only  to  go  back  to  pre-Christian  times,  and  to 
lands  outside  of  Christendom,  and  study  their  religions 
and  histories.  We  must,  however,  take  a  genial  and 
not  a  hostile  spirit  to  this  study.  Our  religion  will  then 
be  seen  to  be  the  best  friend  of  all  the  others.  It  will 
vindicate  the  good  that  is  in  them  and  their  gropings 
after  light.  It  will  offer  a  reconciling  element  to  bring 
completeness  to  each  and  harmony  among  all.  This 
will  be  its  noblest  Apology.  The  form  as  well  as  the 
content  of  religions  must  be  studied  comparatively  ;  their 
sacred  books  according  to  the  accepted  laws  of  critical 
scholarship,  and  the  institutions  and  societies  in  which 
their  ideas  are  enshrined  also  according  to  rules  that  have 
universal  validity.  In  this  study  of  form  we  must 
accept  the  results  of  the  application  of  rules  and 
principles  as  readily,  in  the  case  of  Christianity, 
as  in  the  case  of  every  other  religion.  The  Holy 
Scriptures  as  literature  cannot  be  exempted  from  the 
rules  that  we  apply  to  the  Koran,  the  Vedas,  the 
Tripitaka,  or  the  Shoo  or  Shih  King.  It  may  be 
noted,  too,  that  nothing  but  good  can  come  from  this 
study  in  every  case.  The  object  of  criticism  is  construc- 
tive, not  destructive.  It  endeavours  to  set  each  book 
before  us  in  the  light  in  which  it  appeared  to  those  for 
whom  it  was  originally  written.  It  seeks  to  distinguish 
between  the  original  utterances  of  inspired  men  and 
"  the  after-thoughts,  generally  the  corruptions  of  later 
ages,"  between  the  living  words  of  the  prophet  and 
the  work  of  the  compiler  and  the  scribe.  Simi- 
larly, the  real  meaning  and  value  of  institutions  can  be 
known  only  when  they  are  traced  back  to  their  origins, 
and  a  civilisation  can  be  valued  aright  only  when,  by 


INTRODUCTION 


comparison  with  others,  its  conditions  and  defects  are 
duly  acknowledged,  and  the  law  of  its  life  is  discerned. 

What  was  the  point  of  view  from  which  the  Old 
Testament  prophets  and  Jesus — to  whom  the  prophets 
witnessed — regarded  the  religions  of  the  world  ?  No 
question  can  be  more  important.  In  answering  it,  we  • 
must  not  judge  by  the  attitude  of  the  Jews  to  the  Gen- 
tiles in  the  time  of  Jesus,  for  that  was  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  spirit  of  the  prophets,  and  of  the  Scriptures  in 
which  their  words  were  recorded.  The  Jews  themselves 
would  not  have  admitted  any  such  opposition.  Natu- 
rally enough,  learned  Rabbis  thought  that  they  under- 
stood their  own  Scriptures,  and  the  idea  that  a  peasant 
or  carpenter  from  Galilee  understood  them  better  only 
excited  their  ridicule.  They  knew  and  loved  the  law  and 
the  prophets.  They  gloried  in  their  fidelity  to  Moses  and 
the  Scriptures,  and  they  believed  that  it  was  the  attitude 
of  Jesus  that  was  unscriptural.  Christians,  unfortunately, 
have  either  assumed  that  their  interpretation  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  correct,  and  have  made  it  their  own,  or 
they  have  condemned  the  Jews  and  especially  the  scribe* 
with  excessive  harshness.  We  should  remember  that 
their  attitude  was  the  result  of  historical  conditions, 
extending  as  far  back  as  the  exile  in  Babylon,  and  that 
for  these  full  allowance  must  be  made.  We  must  try 
to  understand  the  conditions,  for  to  understand  is  to 
forgive.  In  the  fifth  century  before  Christ  men  of 
prophetic  spirit  saw  that  Israel  had  fallen,  through 
not  understanding  the  difference  between  the  character 
of  Jehovah  and  the  characters  of  the  gods  of  the  nations 
round  about.  Jehovah  was  essentially  righteousness  and 
truth.  The  gods  of  the  heathen  were  largely  mere 
reflections  of  the  evil  passions  of  their  worshippers.  To 
put  both  on  the  same  plane  and  worship  them  alike  was 
to  mingle  the  true  and  the  false  together.  Doing  this, 
the  Israelites  had  become  as  morally  vile  as  their  neigh- 
bours, probably  more  so,  for  the  corruption  of  the  best 
is  the  worst  form  of  corruption.  The  prophets  of  th« 
exile  saw  this,  and  Ezra,  the  scribe,  as  well  as  his  fellow* 


•  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

labourer,  Nehemiah,  the  civil  governor,  saw  that  the 
only  hope  for  Israel  was  to  separate  the  returned  exiles 
rigidly,  according  to  the  commandments  of  the  law, 
from  the  filthiness  of  the  surrounding  peoples.  This 
policy  was  required  at  the  time,  though  there  were  not 
wanting  men  who  opposed  it,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  fundamental  covenant  that 
Jehovah  had  made  with  Israel,  and  to  the  teaching  of 
the  great  prophets.  Each  age,  however,  has  its  own 
work  to  do,  and  statesmen  are  obliged  to  take  up  the 
position  that  their  own  time  demands.  Events  tended 
to  harden  and  sharpen  the  policy  of  Ezra,  and  to  accen- 
tuate the  lofty  sense  which  the  Jews  came  to  entertain  of 
their  own  superiority  and  their  privileges  as  the  people  of 
Jehovah.  The  truth  of  their  election  by  God  for  the 
sake  of  the  world  became  perverted  into  the  falsehood 
of  an  election  of  favouritism  for  their  own  sakes.  The 
Messianic  hope  became  degraded  in  the  same  way.  The 
terrible  Maccabean  struggle,  in  the  second  century  before 
Christ,  gave  the  greatest  impetus  to  this  evil  tendency. 
In  consequence,  a  bitter  hatred,  or  a  haughty  and 
pharisaic  contempt  of  other  nations  and  religions,  took 
the  place  of  the  spirit  that  had  animated  Abraham, 
Moses  and  Isaiah.  "  Uncircumcised  dogs,"  "  Sinners 
of  the  Gentiles,"  and  such  like,  were  the  names  invari- 
ably given  to  other  nations,  and  it  was  assumed  that 
God  had  revealed  Himself  to  no  people  but  to  Israel. 
The  teaching  and  attitude  of  Jesus  was  a  continual  and 
emphatic  protest  against  this  essentially  irreligious  spirit. 
He,  the  Messiah,  was  the  true  successor  and  fulfiller  of 
the  prophets  of  the  elder  day,  while  he  transcended  the 
nationalism  within  which  the  greatest  of  them  had  of 
necessity  to  move,  and  by  which  they  were  trammelled 
in  their  eagle  flights.  He  had,  only  in  larger  measure, 
the  spirit  of  Amos,  who  told  Israel  that  Jehovah  had 
brought  other  nations  to  their  lands  in  the  same  way 
in  which  He  had  led  themselves  out  of  Egypt  ;  that  He 
had  led  the  Philistines  from  Caphtor  and  the  Syrians 
from  Kir;  and  that  He  would  judge  Israel  and  Judah, 


INTRODUCTION 


for  their  sins,  by  the  same  moral  law  by  which  He 
judged  those  nations,  with  the  difference  that  their 
punishment  would  be  greater  as  their  light  had  been 
greater  (Amos  ix.  7).  Jesus  had,  only  in  larger  measure, 
the  spirit  of  Malachi,  who  asserted  the  equality  in  God's 
sight  of  all  sincere  worship,  and  who,  in  order  to 
shame  the  grudged  and  polluted  offerings  of  the  Jews, 
reminded  them  that  incense  and  a  pure  offering  was 
being  made  to  Jehovah  by  races  outside  the  Jewish  pale, 
from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  of  the 
same — "  For  my  name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts."  Malachi  repeats  this  remarkable  say- 
ing (Mai.  i.  11-14,  Revised  Version).  The  translation 
in  the  Authorised  Version  obscures  his  thought  ;  but  on 
the  same  point,  that  all  honest,  reverential  worship  and 
true  morality  are  acceptable  to  Jehovah,  the  language  of 
Jesus  is  unmistakable.  "  Many,"  He  says,  "  shall  come 
from  the  east  and  the  west,"  that  is,  from  heathen  nations, 
"  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  the  sons  of  the 
kingdom  shall  be  cast  forth  into  the  outer  darkness."  His 
attitude  to  the  Samaritans  and  Gentiles  with  whom  He 
came  in  contact,  and  His  recognition  of  the  faith  of  the 
Roman  centurion  and  of  the  heathen  woman  whom  He 
tested  so  severely,  must  have  shocked  all  who  believed 
that  true  religion  was  confined  to  the  Jews.  To  be  told 
that  He  found  greater  faith  among  the  heathen  than  in 
the  Church  must  have  sounded  almost  as  blasphemy  in 
their  ears.  It  was,  however,  simply  the  outcome  of  the 
fundamental  principle,  that  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  there- 
fore that  all  who  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth  are 
worshipping  God.  The  apostles  came  gradually  to  see 
their  relation  to  other  races  and  religions  from  their 
Master's  point  of  view.  When  Peter  heard  from  Cor- 
nelius his  straightforward  story  and  looked  into  the  face 
of  the  good  man,  the  light  flashed  into  his  soul  and 
illuminated  much  that  had  previously  been  dark  to  him. 
"  Of  a  truth,"  he  said,  "  I  perceive  that  God  is  no 
respecter  of  persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth 


io  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

him  and  worketh  righteousness  is  acceptable  to  him," 
and  straightway  he  preached  Jesus  to  hearts  prepared  for 
Him,  by  what  we  would  call  natural  means  ;  and  they 
believed  while  the  masters  of  Israel  rejected  Him.  It 
was  the  conviction  of  this  same  truth  that  made  Paul  \ 
missionary  to  the  Gentiles,  and  the  model  for  mission- 
aries to  all  time.  He  became  a  Jew  to  the  Jews,  a 
Greek  to  the  Greeks,  and  a  barbarian  to  the  barbarians. 
We  have  only  to  study  his  sermons  to  the  people  of 
Lystra  and  of  Athens,  and  compare  them  with  his  sermons 
in  the  synagogues,  to  understand  how  thoroughly  he 
adapted  himself  to  the  needs,  the  history,  and  the  actual 
religious  condition  of  the  people  to  whom  he  preached  ; 
how  genial  was  his  attitude,  and  how  consistently  he 
operated  along  the  line  of  least  resistance,  in  seeking  to 
bring  men  to  the  Saviour.  He  saw  that  Christianity  had 
broken  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition  between  the 
nations  and  opened  a  universal  temple  ;  and  when  others, 
even  apostles,  would  have  kept  the  Church  as  a  mere 
Jewish  sect,  he,  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  made  it  the 
religion  of  humanity. 

This,  too,  is  the  spirit  in  which  the  missionary  work 
of  the  Church  must  always  be  conducted.  Something 
more  than  zeal  to  make  proselytes  is  needed.  The 
Pharisees  had  zeal  of  that  kind,  and  what  Jesus  thought 
of  them  and  their  zeal  we  learn  from  his  words,  "  Ye 
compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte,  and  when 
he  is  become  so,  ye  make  him  twofold  more  a  son  of 
hell  than  yourselves."  Clearly,  the  only  way  to  under- 
stand how  we  should  approach  an  intelligent  man  who  has 
been  brought  up  in  another  faith  is  by  putting  ourselves 
in  his  place.  We  would  disdain  being  proselytised,  but  we 
are  always  ready  to  welcome  truth.  But,  admittedly,  no 
one  can  benefit  us  who  makes  his  approaches  with  an  air 
that  plainly  says  that  he  knows  all  truth,  and  that  what 
we  have  hitherto  believed  and  acted  on  is  all  false.  If  he 
comes  to  us  with  an  assumption  of  his  own  superiority  and 
a  scarcely  concealed  contempt  for  our  forefathers,  he  can 
never  be  God's  prophet  to  us.  He  must  take  a  different 


INTRODUCTION 


attitude  altogether.  He  must  stand  with  us  on  the  com- 
mon platform  of  brotherhood.  He  must  take  the  trouble 
to  find  out  what  we  have  done.  He  must  speak  our 
language,  understand  our  music,  sing  our  best  songs, 
itudy  our  highest  literature,  honour  our  past,  comprehend 
our  philosophy,  sympathise  with  our  ideals,  and  appre- 
ciate the  deepest  elements  in  our  lives.  He  must  respect 
and  love  us.  Then,  if  he  is  greater  than  we  are,  and 
if  he  has  new  truth  to  communicate  or  new  power  to 
impart,  we  gladly  accept  him  as  leader.  Then  he  will 
be  as  the  early  and  latter  rains  to  the  roots  of  life.  He 
will  initiate  forces  potential  to  leaven  the  community,  and 
a  nation  will  seem  to  be  born  in  a  day.  All  societies 
must  be  influenced  from  within.  Attacks  from  without 
make  them  more  impervious  than  they  were  before. 
Proselytism  detaches  individuals,  who  as  a  rule  are  worth 
little,  but  it  arrests  internal  development.  Prophetism 
gains  individuals,  who  become  centres  of  force,  and  it  thus 
initiates  movements  which  may  be  delayed  or  defeated 
but  cannot  be  destroyed. 

Christendom  is  God's  prophet  to  the  nations.  In 
order  to  fulfil  this  high  mission  we  must  act  on  the 
truth  we  profess  to  believe,  that  He  has  appointed  the 
bounds  of  their  habitation  ;  that  in  Him  they  live,  move, 
and  have  their  being ;  that  He  has  spoken  to  them  in 
times  past,  though,  as  those  were  what  Paul  calls  "  times 
of  ignorance,"  the  Father's  voice  was  not  heard  distinctly 
by  His  wayward  children  ;  and  that  now,  having  spoken 
by  His  Son,  by  whom  He  will  judge  the  world,  He  com- 
mands men  everywhere  to  repent  and  believe.  Presenting 
the  Christ  in  this  spirit  we  shall  see  all  men  drawn  unto 
Him  ;  while  we  shall  never  gain  those  whom  we  hate  or 
despise,  or  endeavour  to  bully  or  bribe.  They  would 
not  be  our  true  brothers  if  they  could  be  won  by  any 
such  brute  methods.  We  shall  never  gain  the  non- 
Christian  nations  until  we  treat  their  religions  with  justice, 
and  until  courtesy,  respect,  and  love  take  the  place  of  the 
contempt  which  is  now  so  general  and  the  only  excuse  for 
which  is  that  it  is  largely  based  upon  ignorance. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 


CHAPTER   I 
MOHAMMEDANISM 

Importance  of  the  person  of  Mohammed  In  connection 
with  this  religion — His  birth  and  character  as  a  youth 
— Religion  of  the  Arabs  at  the  time — His  perception 
of  its  falsehood  —  Intercourse  with  Christians,  Jews, 
and  Hanifs — Influence  of  the  desert  on  him — General 
difference  between  the  religious  conceptions  of  Semites 
and  Aryans — Perception  by  Mohammed  that  the  great 
reality  is  God — Crisis  of  his  life  when  he  became  con- 
vinced that  he  was  called  to  be  a  prophet  —  His 
revelations  —  His  converts  —  Persecutions  —  Crisis  in 
Mecca — The  Hijra  to  Medina — Characteristics  of  his 
ten  years  in  that  city — Success  of  his  new  policy — 
Sketch  of  the  propagation  of  his  faith  from  his  death  to 
the  present  day. 

TV/TOHAMMEDANISM  is  the  latest  born  of  all  the 
•*•*-*•  great  extant  religions.  In  studying  it,  there  arises 
before  us  "  the  strange  spectacle  of  a  religion  coming 
into  being  in  the  clear  light  of  day."1  A  man  who  lived 
in  the  sixth  Christian  century  was  its  founder  and  the 
sole  author  of  its  Bible.  That  Bible — the  Koran — is 
only  about  two-thirds  of  the  length  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  its  authenticity  is  unquestioned.  Clearly,  to 
know  this  religion  we  must  know  what  kind  of  a  man 
the  founder  was.  He  insisted,  indeed,  as  Paul  did  with 
regard  to  Christianity,  that  it  was  not  a  new  but  an  old 
religion,  the  religion  of  their  forefathers,  of  the  patri- 
archs, of  the  prophets  and  of  Jesus,  which  he  wu 

*  Rerun's  £tudei  tFHistoirt  Religitnu,  p.  t3O. 


MOHAMMEDANISM  13 

preaching,  in  its  final  form,  to  the  Arabs,  and  through 
them  to  the  world.  la  this  form  it  proved  to  have 
extraordinary  power,  first  by  fusing  the  chaotic  and  dis- 
cordant tribes  of  Arabia  into  a  theocratic  nation,  and 
then  by  displacing  Christianity  from  its  cradle  and  from 
all  the  countries  known  to  us  as  the  Bible  lands.  These 
submitted  without  exception  to  the  Crescent.  Does 
history  present  us  with  any  facts  more  astonishing? 
Not  to  make  an  attempt  to  learn  their  secret  shows  in- 
difference to  all  religion,  and  in  order  to  understand  them 
we  must  estimate  aright  the  character  of  Mohammed. 

Mohammed  was  born  in  Mecca,  somewhere  about  the 
year  of  our  Lord  57  !•  The  tribe  to  which  he  belonged  was 
the  Koreysh,  the  noblest  in  the  city,  but  his  family  was 
poor,  and  he  himself  was  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age. 
As  a  youth  he  herded  sheep,  and  gathered  wild  berries  in 
the  desert.  In  his  twenty-fifth  year  he  entered  the 
household  of  a  wealthy  widow,  named  Khadijeh,  and  in 
the  discharge  of  her  business  made  journeys  to  Palestine 
and  Syria.  Subsequently  he  married  Khadijeh.  His 
life  was  of  such  purity,  gravity,  and  integrity  that  those 
who  knew  him  best  loved  and  honoured  him  most,  and 
at  length  his  townspeople  gave  him  the  name  of  El- 
Amim,  the  Trusty.  He  was  forty  years  old  before  the 
thought  that  he  was  called  to  be  a  prophet  took  pos- 
session of  him  and  changed  the  whole  current  of  his 
life. 

The  religion  of  the  Arabs  at  this  period  was  a  poly- 
theistic idolatry,  the  power  of  which  had  died  out — save 
what  remained  in  connection  with  stated  feasts  at  holy 
places,  to  which  the  tribes  had  gathered  from  time  im- 
memorial. Mecca  was  one  of  those  centres.  It  owed 
its  importance  to  the  Kaaba,  or  temple,  which  contained 
600  idols,  and,  more  important  than  any  or  all  of  these, 
•  sacred  black  stone — probably  an  aerolite — which  had 
fallen  from  heaven.  In  the  creed  of  the  Arabs  there 
stood,  high  above  all  the  gods,  Allah,  the  ancient  name 
for  'he  Supreme  Being  in  all  branches  of  the  Semitic 


14  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

race.  Worship,  however,  was  paid,  not  to  Allah,  for 
man  could  not  enter  into  relation  with  him,  but  to 
particular  deities  who  dwelt  with  men,  and  who  were 
recognised  as  patrons,  respectively,  of  different  families 
and  tribes.  Gradually,  from  observing  the  often 
sceptical  and  irreverent  attitude  of  the  people  to  the 
gods  they  professed  to  serve,  and  from  other  reasons, 
the  conviction  grew  upon  Mohammed  that  the  idols  that 
were  to  be  found  in  every  house  and  in  the  Kaaba  were 
not  gods,  and  that  even  the  sacred  black  stone  was  only 
a  stone.  We  learn  from  the  Koran  of  the  grief  and  in- 
dignation that  were  aroused  in  his  soul  when  he  found 
that  the  very  guardians  of  the  temple,  far  from  believing 
in  the  idols,  simply  used  them  to  delude  the  people  and 
enrich  themselves.  But  if  he  gave  up  the  gods  of  his 
fathers,  what  other  religion  was  there?  Such  a  man 
could  not  satisfy  himself  with  observance  of  empty 
time-honoured  forms,  and  he  could  not  live  in  peace 
until  he  had  learned  the  secret  of  the  wonderful  universe 
of  which  he  was  a  conscious  part. 

In  his  mercantile  expeditions  to  Syria,  as  well  as  in 
Arabia,  he  had  met  with  Jews  and  Christians,  from  whom 
he  heard  stories  about  Moses  and  the  prophets  and  Jesus. 
But  he  was  no  scholar — it  is  doubtful  whether  he  could 
write  or  even  read — and  he  could  not  distinguish  what 
was  true  from  what  was  false.  His  informants  put 
childish  tales  from  the  Talmud  on  the  same  level  with 
Old  Testament  truths,  and  the  character  of  his  know- 
ledge of  Christianity  may  be  inferred  from  the  strange 
action  he  entertained  that  the  Trinity  consisted  of  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Virgin  Mary.  Possibly  the 
Christians  whom  he  met  had  equally  vague  notions 
concerning  the  fundamentals  of  their  religion.  The 
Christian  nations  had  to  a  great  extent  lost  sight  of  the 
living  God.  Their  faith  had  evaporated  in  worship  of 
images,  still  more  in  discussions  of  metaphysical  subtleties 
about  God  and  religious  controversies  which  were  splitting 
the  Church  into  sects  and  wasting  its  strength,  although 
there  was  much  clattering  activity  that  looked  like 


MOHAMMED  A  NISM 


strength.  God  was  not  in  all  their  thoughts.  lie  was 
an  absentee  God,  as  truly  as  Allah  was  to  the 
Arabs,  or,  what  amounted  to  the  same  thing,  a  God 
hidden  by  dogmas  thut  pretended  to  define  what  can 
never  be  defined,  though  it  can  be  lived.  The  faith 
which  had  conquered  the  Roman  Empire  had  given  way 
to  make-believes,  and  the  inevitable  results — worldliness 
and  corruption  —  could  not  be  hid.  In  spite  of  the 
grievous  falling  away,  Mohammed  felt  that  there  was 
truth  in  Mosaism  and  Christianity,  and  this  conviction 
was  strengthened  when  Waraka,  an  uncle  of  his  wife, 
brought  him  into  connection  with  a  movement  which  had 
been  going  on  quietly  for  some  time  in  Mecca,  Medina, 
and  other  cities  of  Arabia.  In  all  those  centres,  isolated 
individuals  were  to  be  found  whose  moral  natures  had 
recoiled  from  the  immoralities  and  idolatry  of  their 
countrymen.  Rejecting  polytheism  and  the  filthiness 
associated  with  it,  they  not  only  acknowledged  Allah, 
but  made  faith  in  him  consist,  not  in  assent  to  any  mere 
intellectual  doctrine,  but  in  Islam,  or  submission  to  his 
will.  These  men  were  called  Hanifs,  or  "penitents." 
The  source  of  this  Hanifite  movement  was  probably 
Jewish  Essenism  or  ascetic  Christianity,  or  both  com- 
bined. Essenism  had  spread  from  the  Jordan  down 
into  the  Arabian  desert,  and  some  primitive  forms  of 
Christianity  were  scarcely  distinguishable  from  this  as- 
cetic Judaism.  Men  who  prove  their  sincerity  by  volun- 
tarily cutting  themselves  off  from  the  ties  and  pleasures 
of  life  will  always  influence  others,  and  Bedouin  poetry 
proves  that  Jewish  or  Christian  anchorites  were  popular 
with  the  Arabs.  "  It  was  not  their  doctrine  that  proved 
impressive,  but  the  genuine  earnestness  of  their  con- 
secrated life,  spent  in  preparation  for  the  life  to  come, 
for  the  day  of  judgment,  and  forming  the  sharpest  con- 
trast to  the  profanity  of  heathenism.  Ascetic  life  and 
meditation  were  the  chief  points  with  the  Hanifs  also,  and 
they  are  sometimes  called  by  the  same  name  with  the 
Christian  monks.  It  can  hardly  be  wrong  to  conclude 
that  these  nameless  witnesses  of  the  Gospel,  unmentione<l 


16  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

in  Church  history,  scattered  the  seed  from  which  sprang 
the  germ  of  Islam."1 

Mohammed  thus  came  into  contact  with  the  Jewish 
»nd  Christian  faiths,  along  lines  where  his  own  nature 
offered  little  or  no  resistance  to  the  new  truth.  His 
travels  over  the  great  lonely  deserts  and  pastures  where 
Abraham,  Moses,  and  Elijah  had  wandered,  must 
also  have  prepared  him  to  feel  the  power  of  the  funda- 
mental truth  of  the  Unity  of  God.  Nowhere  more  power- 
fully than  in  the  desert  does  nature  bring  home  to  the 
mind  the  littleness  of  man  and  the  reality  of  the  Eternal. 
Nature  is  "the  living  garment  by  which  we  see  God," 
and  in  the  desert  the  garment  is  almost  transparent  to 
men  of  a  devout  or  even  an  austere  turn  of  mind. 
"  The  desert  is  monotheistic.  Sublime  in  its  uniform 
immensity,  it  revealed  the  very  first  day  the  idea  of  the 
Infinite,  but  not  that  thought  of  fruitful  activity  which 
a  nature  incessantly  creative  has  inspired  in  the  Indo- 
European  mind.  .  .  .  Exclusively  struck  by  the  unity  of 
government  which  prevails  in  the  world,  the  Semites 
have  seen  in  the  development  of  things  only  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  will  of  a  Superior  Being.  God  is  ; 
God  has  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth  ;  behold  their 
whole  philosophy.  Such  is  not  the  conception  of  that 
other  race,  destined  to  exhaust  every  phase  of  life,  which, 
from  India  to  Greece,  from  Greece  to  the  extremities  of 
the  North  and  West,  has  made  nature  animate  and 
divine,  from  the  living  statue  of  Homer  to  the  living 
vessel  of  the  Scandinavians."2  It  has  been  denied  that 
there  is  this  fundamental  difference  between  the  religious 
conceptions  of  the  Semitic  and  the  Aryan  peoples,  but 
there  is  warrant  for  the  position,  and  it  can  be  successfully 
maintained.  The  beautiful,  varied,  teeming  world  tended 
in  India  and  in  Greece  to  obliterate  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  creature  and  the  Creator,  either  by  nature- 
worship  or  a  philosophical  pantheism  which  took  the 
form  of  mythologies  for  the  people.  To  the  Semitic 

1  £ncy.  Brit.  See  "  Mohammedanism,"  by  Professor  Wellhausen. 
*  Kenan,  The  Religions  of  Antiquity,  p.  103. 


MO  II A  MMEDAN1SM 


mind,  on  the  contrary,  there  has  always  been  an  im- 
measurable gulf  between  God  and  man,  and  life  in  or 
near  the  desert  has  had  something  to  do  with  their  reign- 
ing conception.  God  is  the  great  reality,  the  Sovereign 
to  whom  obedience  is  the  supreme  duty,  the  Power  who 
orders  all  events  and  guides  all  history.  He  is  found, 
therefore,  in  history  rather  than  in  nature.  A  great 
authority  says,  "  If  I  venture  to  characterise  the  worship 
of  all  the  Semitic  nations  by  one  word,  I  would  say 
that  it  was  pre-eminently  a  worship  of  God  in  History  ; 
and  of  the  Aryan  race  a  worship  of  God  in  Nature."  l 
To  Mohammed,  at  any  rate,  God  became  the  great  fact, 
and  the  fear  of  God  made  him  great.  "  God  !  There 
is  no  God  but  He  !  The  living,  the  self-subsisting  1 
Neither  slumber  seizeth  Him  nor  sleep.  All  that  is  in 
the  heavens  and  in  the  earth  is  His."  This  God,  the 
Eternal,  had  guided  the  race,  speaking  to  man  through 
innumerable  prophets.  Mohammed  had  learned  from 
the  floating  traditions  or  stories  to  which  he  had  greedily 
listened  that  there  had  been  124,000  prophets;  and 
that  five  of  these — Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  and 
Jesus — had  been  the  bearers  of  new  revelations  which 
superseded  all  that  had  been  delivered  by  their  pre- 
decessors. The  last  revelation,  that  of  Jesus,  had  been 
the  purest.  "Say  ye  to  the  Christians,"  he  cries, 
"their  God  and  my  God  is  one."  He  did  all  he 
could  to  induce  them  to  accept  him,  and  to  induce 
the  Jews,  who  were  numerous  and  wealthy  in  Arabia, 
to  believe  that  he  was  "  the  prophet,  like  unto 
Moses,"  foretold  in  their  Scriptures,  unto  whom  they 
were  to  hearken.  When  they  refused  to  listen,  and, 
instead,  mocked  him,  he  promulgated  the  theory  that 
they  had  corrupted  their  sacred  books  to  prevent  the 
people  from  recognising  him,  or  that  spurious  versions 
and  various  readings  of  the  Scriptures  explained  any 
seeming  opposition  to  his  claims.  An  appeal  from  the 
actual  text  to  a  lost  original  is  still  made  by  Moslem,  a? 
well  as  by  some  Christian  theologians  ;  by  the  first  for 
1  Max  Miiller,  Introduction  to  tht  Science  oj  Religion,  p.  171. 


i8  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

the  sake  of  discrediting,  and  by  the  second  for  the  sake 
of  exalting,  our  Scriptures ! 

It  is  possible,  then,  to  explain  how  Mohammed 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  facts  and  ideas 
that  he  afterwards  preached,  and  why  it  was  that  these 
found  ready  entrance  into  his  mind.  But  such  an 
explanation  does  not  explain  the  rise  and  power  of 
Mohammedanism.  Jews  lived  in  Arabia  who  knew 
Moses  far  better  than  Mohammed,  and  Christians  who 
knew  the  Gospel  better.  Hanifs  had  already  related 
essential  Biblical  ideas  to  the  ancient  faith  of  the  people 
of  Arabia,  and  had  built  upon  that  composite  foundation 
a  spiritual  religion  and  a  life  more  or  less  separated 
from  the  world.  But  it  was  Mohammed,  and  neither 
Jew  nor  Christian  nor  Hanif,  who  founded  the  religion 
that  has  once  and  again  threatened  to  sweep  Christianity 
from  the  earth,  and  that  still  commands  the  absolute 
homage  of  more  millions  of  human  beings  than  are 
included  in  all  the  Protestant  churches  of  the  world  put 
together.  Where,  then,  is  the  secret  of  Islam  to  be 
found  ? 

A  distinguished  German  scholar  has  hinted  that  the 
explanation  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  peculiar  physical 
constitution  of  Mohammed.  He  was  of  an  exceedingly 
sensitive  temperament.  It  is  also  alleged  that  he  had  a 
tendency  to  see  visions,  and  that  he  suffered  from  fits. 
Let  medical  men  decide  whether  it  was  to  epilepsy, 
catalepsy,  or  hysteria  that  he  was  subject,  and  we  shall 
have  in  our  hands,  this  scholar  would  say,  the  key  to  the 
problem  of  how  it  was  that  wife,  household,  cousin,  and 
slaves  all  believed  him  when  he  declared  himself  the  chosen 
prophet  of  God,  and  how  it  was  that  tens  of  thousands  of 
Arabs — the  most  bigoted  tribesmen  in  the  world — were 
willing  to  break,  at  his  command,  the  sacred  ties  of  blood- 
relationship  and  ancestral  faith,  go  with  him  into  exile  and 
to  death,  and  do  whatsoever  he  commanded  !  No ;  there 
have  been  epileptics  and  hysterical  people  before  and  since, 
but  none  of  them  ever  founded  a  religion.  Only  in  the 
personality  of  Mohammed  is  the  explanation  to  be  found. 


MOHAMMEDANISM  19 

Personality  is  the  secret  place  where  God  deals  with  the 
human  spirit,  and  no  one  but  the  man  himself  can 
witness  as  to  what  has  taken  place  in  that  region  of 
his  being.  We  may  refuse  to  accept  the  witness  of  a 
prophet,  but  the  witness  of  history  will  not  be  refused. 
It  is  writ  in  large  letters,  whereas  the  individual,  falling 
down,  but  having  his  eyes  open,  or  caught  up  into  the 
third  heaven — whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body 
he  cannot  tell — hears  and  sees  what,  at  the  best,  he  can 
afterwards  utter  only  inarticulately  or  fragmentarily.  No 
prophet,  if  he  is  nothing  more  than  mere  man,  can 
explain  his  own  secret  He  cannot  tell  why  he  fails 
when  he  is  sure  that  he  must  succeed,  and  why  he  suc- 
ceeds when,  to  the  eye  of  sense,  nothing  but  absolute 
and  irretrievable  failure  awaits  him.  In  either  case 
he  can  but  bow  his  head  and  say,  It  is  the  will  of 
God. 

What  we  know  of  the  supreme  crisis  of  Mohammed's 
life,  when  the  truth  took  possession  of  him  that  the 
secret  of  this  wonderful  universe  is  God,  and  that  his 
own  place  and  mission  in  the  universe  was  to  declare 
God  to  his  countrymen,  and  call  on  them  to  abandon 
idolatry  and  sin,  and  prepare  for  the  judgment  of  God. 
can  be  told  briefly.  The  truths  that  he  had  heard, 
though  mixed  with  Haggadistic  stories  and  legends — 
above  all,  the  thought  of  God  and  a  judgment  day — 
pressed  upon  him.  "  He  used  to  wander  about  the  hills 
alone,  brooding  over  these  things ;  he  shunned  the 
society  of  men,  and  solitude  became  a  passion  to  him. 
At  length  came  the  crisis.  He  was  spending  the  sacred 
months  at  Mount  Mira,  'a  huge  barren  rock,  torn  by 
cleft  and  hollow  ravine,  standing  out  solitary  in  the  full 
white  glare  of  the  desert  sun,  shadowless,  flowerless, 
without  well  or  rill.'  Here,  in  a  cave,  Mohammed 
gave  himself  up  to  prayer  and  fasting.  Long  months 
or  even  years  of  doubt  had  increased  his  nervous  ex- 
citability. He  had  had,  they  say,  cataleptic  fits  during 
his  childhood,  and  was  evidently  more  delicately  and 
finely  constituted  than  those  around  him."  These  were 


ao  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

the  circumstances  in  which,  according  to  the  tradition  of 
the  cave,  Mohammed  heard  a  voice  say  "  Cry  1" 
"What  shall  I  cry?"  he  answered.1 

"  Cry  1  in  the  name  of  thy  Lord  who  created, 
Created  man  from  blood, 
Cry  I  for  thy  Lord  is  the  bountifullest. 
Who  taught  the  pen. 
Taught  man  what  he  did  not  know." 

Mohammed  arose  trembling  and  went  to  Khadijeh, 
and  told  her  what  he  had  heard.  She  believed  in  him, 
soothed  his  terror,  and  bade  him  hope  for  the  future 
Yet  he  could  not  believe  in  himself.  Was  he  not  mad, 
or  possessed  by  a  devil  ?  Were  these  voices  of  a  truth 
from  God  ? 

Doubting,  wondering,  hoping,  he  had  fain  put  an  end 
to  a  life  which  had  become  intolerable  in  its  changings 
from  the  heaven  of  hope  to  the  hell  of  despair,  when 
again — some  time,  we  know  not  how  long,  after — he 
heard  the  voice,  "  Thou  art  the  messenger  of  God  and  I 
am  Gabriel."  Then  conviction  at  length  seized  hold 
upon  him  ;  he  was  indeed  to  bring  a  message  of  good 
tidings  to  the  Arabs,  the  message  of  God  through  the 
angel  Gabriel.  He  went  back  to  Khadijeh,  exhausted 
in  mind  and  body.  "  Wiap  me,  wrap  me,"  he  said ; 
and  in  that  position  the  word  came  to  him — 

•'  O  thou  who  art  covered,  rise  up  and  warn  I 
And  thy  Lord  magnify  ! 
And  thy  garments  purify  ! 
And  abomination  shun  I 
And  grant  not  favours  to  gain  increase ! 
And  thy  Lord  await." 

Thus  it  was  that  the  first  revelations  came  to 
Mohammed.  He  believed  that  God  called  him  and 
appointed  him  to  a  great  work,  and  obeying  the  call  he 
became  a  new  man.  Thereafter,  for  ten  years  in  Mecca 

1  It  is  impossible  not  to  note  the  similarity  of  this  and  I&a.  zL  6. 


MOHAMMEDANISM 


and  then  for  ten  years  more  in  Medina,  revelations  came 
almost  continuously  to  him.  The  fust  decade  was  hi» 
period  of  trial,  and  seldom  was  man  more  sorely  tested. 
Disappointments,  mockery,  insults,  persecutions  were 
given  to  him  in  full  measure,  but  unflinchingly  he  bore 
up  against  everything,  and  his  faith  failed  not.  The 
unity,  spirituality,  presence,  and  power  of  God,  the 
necessity  of  righteousness  and  the  certainty  of  retribution, 
were  truths  now  so  clear  to  him  that  he  felt  that  his 
townsmen  must  believe,  if  only  he  bore  true  and  earnest 
testimony.  He  preached  to  them,  therefore,  in  season 
and  out  of  season,  not  attacking  their  idol-worship  at 
first,  but  only  urging  them  to  worship  the  one  God,  to 
repent  of  their  sins,  and  to  prepare  for  that  great  judg- 
ment day  which  was  now  an  ever-present  reality  to  him- 
self. It  was  in  vain.  A  few  converts  were  made,  and 
it  is  significant  of  his  sincerity  that  these  were  from  his 
own  household  or  relatives  or  slaves.  But  not  many 
wise,  not  many  noble,  not  many  mighty  were  called,  and 
the  mass  of  the  people  thought  him  mad,  or  declared 
that  there  was  nothing  new  in  his  preaching.  The 
religion  of  their  forefathers  was  good  enough  for  them. 
Besides,  why  should  they  adopt  a  new  religion  in  the 
teeth  of  the  city's  interests,  which  would  degrade  it  from 
its  ancient  position  as  the  religious  capital  of  a  large 
part  of  Arabia?  If  they  and  others  came  to  believe 
that  the  idols  of  the  Kaaba  were  nothings,  no  longer 
would  the  surrounding  tribes  come  to  offer  worship  and 
at  the  same  time  enrich  the  city  with  their  alms  and 
offerings.  Slowly,  however,  but  steadily,  the  converts 
did  increase  in  number,  and  then  the  rulers  of  the  city 
began  to  persecute  all  who  were  not  protected  by  power- 
ful kindred.  Accordingly,  in  the  fifth  year  of  his 
preaching,  Mohammed  sent  away  fifteen  of  his  little 
flock  to  Abyssinia,  "  a  land  of  righteousness,  wherein  no 
man  is  wronged."  Others  followed  them,  till  they 
numbered  more  than  a  hundred.  Then  the  Koreysh 
sent  to  demand  their  extradition.  The  king  called  for 
the  refugees,  and  asked  them  in  a  full  assembly  of  bishop*, 


22  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

what  reason  they  had  to  give  why  they  should  not  be 
sent  back  to  Mecca.  One  of  them  answered — 

"  O  King  !  we  lived  in  ignorance,  idolatry,  and  un- 
chastity ;  the  strong  oppressed  the  weak  ;  we  spoke 
untruth  ;  we  violated  the  duties  of  hospitality.  Then 
a  prophet  arose,  one  whom  we  knew  from  our  youth, 
with  whose  descent  and  conduct  and  good  faith  and 
morality  we  were  all  well  acquainted.  He  taught  us 
to  worship  one  God,  to  speak  truth,  to  keep  good  faith, 
to  assist  our  relations,  to  fulfil  the  rites  of  hospitality, 
and  to  abstain  from  all  things  impure,  ungodly,  un- 
righteous ;  and  he  ordered  us  to  say  prayers,  to  give 
alms,  and  to  fast.  We  believed  him,  and  followed  him. 
But  our  countrymen  persecuted  us  and  tortured  us,  and 
tried  to  cause  us  to  forsake  our  religion.  And  now  we 
throw  ourselves  upon  thy  protection.  Wilt  not  thou 
protect  us  ?  ". 

And  he  recited  a  part  of  the  Koran  which  spoke  of 
Christ,  and  the  king  and  the  bishops  wept  upon  their 
beards.  And  the  king  dismissed  the  ambassadors  of  the 
Koreysh,  and  would  not  give  up  the  refugees. 

Thereupon,  in  Mecca,  persecution  waxed  hotter.  Civil 
war  seemed  imminent,  for  now  the  leaders  of  the  Koreysh 
made  up  their  minds  to  crush  the  new  faith,  even  though 
they  provoked  active  resistance  on  the  part  of  those 
who  were  compelled  by  blood-relationship  to  stand  by 
Mohammed.  Old  Abu-Talib,  his  uncle  and  the  head 
of  the  family,  who  had  hitherto  protected  him  without 
accepting  his  prophetic  mission,  dreading  the  prospect, 
sent  for  him  and  begged  him  "  not  to  cast  upon  him  a 
burden  heavier  than  he  could  bear."  Mohammed  was 
deeply  moved.  His  uncle  had  always  treated  him  as 
a  son,  and  the  prophet  would  fain  do  for  him  in  return 
all  that  man  could  do.  But  one  thing  he  could  not  do. 
To  be  false  to  the  voice  in  his  soul  commanding  him  to 
preach  God  to  his  countrymen  would  be  deadly  sin. 
"Though  they  should  set  the  sun  on  my  right  hand 
and  the  moon  on  my  left  to  persuade  me,  yet  while 
God  commands  me  J  will  not  renounce  my  purpose." 


MOHAMMEDANISM  33 

Bo  saying  he  burst  into  tears,  and  turned  to  go  forth 
from  the  house  that  he  thought  was  to  be  no  longer  hU 
shelter.  But  Abu-Talib  called,  "Son  of  my  brother, 
come  back."  And  when  he  came,  the  old  man  said, 
"  Depart  in  peace,  my  nephew,  and  say  what  thou  wilt ; 
for,  by  the  Lord,  I  will  never  deliver  thee  up."  But 
Abu-Talib  died  soon  after.  Kadijeh,  true  wife  and  first 
convert,  also  died.  Mecca  would  have  none  of  Mohammed. 
The  good  of  the  city  required  that  he  should  perish. 
What  would  have  been  the  result  had  the  Koreysh  suc- 
ceeded in  putting  him  to  death  ?  This  one  thing  is 
certain,  that  had  his  followers  been  able  to  propagate 
the  faith,  Mohammed's  figure  would  have  stood  out  in 
history  as  that  of  a  prophet  and  martyr  absolutely 
without  reproach.  But  the  Koreysh  did  not  succeed. 
When  the  sky  of  Islam  was  darkest,  a  ray  of  hope  shone 
from  an  unexpected  quarter.  Converts  in  Medina  in- 
vited him  to  flee  to  their  city.  They  came  as  pilgrims 
to  the  annual  feast  in  Mecca,  and  secretly  gave  their 
pledge  to  him  "to  have  no  God  but  Allah,  to  withhold 
their  hands  from  that  which  was  not  their  own,  to  flee 
fornication,  not  to  kill  new-born  infants,  to  shun 
slander,  and  to  obey  God's  messenger  as  far  as  was 
fairly  to  be  asked."  They  also  swore  "to  guard  him 
against  all  that  they  guarded  their  wives  and  children 
from.  He,  on  the  other  hand,  promised  thenceforward 
to  consider  himself  wholly  as  one  of  themselves,  and  to 
adhere  to  their  society."  According  to  this  pact,  the 
new  religion  and  not  blood  -  relationship,  as  formerly 
over  Arabia,  was  to  be  the  foundation  of  all  social  and 
political  relations,  and  this  new  religion,  summed  up  in 
the  short  creed,  "  There  is  no  God  but  the  Lord,  and 
Mohammed  is  His  apostle,"  proved  sufficient  as  a  solvent 
of  the  oldest  and  strongest  bonds  and  the  cement  of  a 
new  structure  that  soon  challenged  the  wonder  of  the 
world.  Mohammed's  flight — " Hijra  " — to  Medina  took 
place  on  i6th  June,  622  A.D.  From  that  date  Moslems 
have  ever  since  counted  history.  Mohammed  lived  foi 
another  decade ;  but  during  this  last  period  of  his  life 


24  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

b«  discharged  the  functions  of  lawgiver,  statesman, 
general,  judge,  and  king,  as  well  as  those  of  preacher 
and  prophet.  His  prophetic  utterances,  too,  took  a 
different  tone.  They  were  more  of  the  nature  of  official 
commands  and  authoritative  decisions  on  cases  submi'ted 
to  him  than  the  old  rapt  utterances  that  broke  out 
from  a  heart  on  fire  with  zeal  for  God,  or  the  impassioned 
arguments  and  appeals  that  he  addressed  to  the  scept:cal 
Meccans.  He  filled  his  new  role,  however,  with  aston- 
ishing success,  personal  influence  over  his  followers 
proving  sufficient  to  supply  his  lack  of  experience  or 
qualifications  for  government,  and  sufficient  even  to  hide 
or  atone  for  personal  declensions  from  old  ideals  and 
his  own  laws.  The  practical  necessities  of  politics  and 
war  modified  the  high  demands  of  justice,  truth,  and 
mercy,  on  which  he  had  previously  insisted  so  absolutely. 
And  worse,  far  worse,  the  man  who  had  laboured  and 
suffered  so  much  for  the  reformation  of  others  proved, 
when  tested  by  the  possession  of  absolute  power,  unable 
to  keep  himself  pure.  Though  restricting  to  four  the 
number  of  wives  the  faithful  might  possess,  he  himself 
had  at  one  time  in  his  harem  nine  wives  and  two  slave- 
girls.  He  invoked  new  revelations  from  God  to  sanc- 
tion his  frailty.  "  In  religion  there  should  be  neither 
violence  nor  constraint,"  had  been  his  teaching  in  Mecca  ; 
but  when  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  resolute  swords- 
men he  attacked  the  Jews,  near  Medina,  for  refusing 
to  acknowledge  him,  plundered  some,  and  murdered 
hundreds  of  others  in  cold  blood.  The  success  of  his 
new  policy,  however,  was  startling.  His  death  found 
the  vast  peninsula  of  Arabia  almost  a  unit  in  obedience 
to  the  new  faith  ;  and  though  apostacy  then  took  place 
on  so  general  a  scale  that  it  seemed  to  be  universal,  and 
Medina  itself  was  attacked  within  a  year,  Islam  was  soon 
re-established  as  the  national  religion.  It  at  once  spread 
like  wildfire  over  the  greater  part  of  the  civilised  world. 
Neither  the  legions  of  the  Roman  Empire  nor  the  hosts 
of  Chosroes,  the  great  king  of  Persia,  could  stand  before 
the  Arab  warriors,  who  rushed  from  the  deserts  to 


MOHAMMEDANISM  25 

convert  the  unbelieving,  and  win  riches  or  paradise  for 
themselves.  It  swept  over  Palestine,  Syria,  Persia, 
Egypt,  and  Northern  Africa,  and  from  Africa  it  leaped 
across  to  Europe  and  established  itself  in  Spain.  The 
conquered  populations  were  offered  the  triple  option 
— Islam,  the  sword,  or  tribute.  When  the  tide  of  con- 
quest was  at  the  full  a  nobler  spirit  took  possession 
of  the  conquerors,  and  science — physical  and  meta- 
physical—  became  distinctive  marks  of  Moslem  rule. 
Centres  far  apart  as  Cordova  and  Baghdad  became  the 
homes  of  letters  and  art.  The  Crescent  was  prevented 
from  penetrating  farther  into  Europe  by  the  new  Western 
Empire,  which  had  established  itself  under  Charlemagne, 
and  which  had  at  its  heart  a  faith  as  sincere,  as  well  as 
a  truer  theology  and  a  purer  life.  The  "hammer"  of  the 
Mayor  of  Paris  drove  it  back  beyond  the  Pyrenees,  and 
subsequently  Christian  champions  appeared  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Astunas,  who  drove  it  foot  by  foot  from  Spain. 
Europe  was  freed  from  it  on  the  one  side,  only  to 
be  attacked  subsequently  on  the  other  side.  For  two 
centuries  Christendom  wrestled  with  it  for  the  Holy 
Land,  and  was  finally  defeated.  A  period  followed 
during  which  the  disciples  of  both  faiths  seemed  almost 
equally  threatened  by  Tartar  hordes  ;  but  these  accepted 
Islamism,  and,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  a  mighty  Moham- 
medan power  took  Constantinople  by  storm,  and  from  that 
point  of  vantage  swept,  in  successive  resistless  waves  of 
invasion,  up  to  the  gates  of  Vienna,  and  threatened  the 
Christian  world.  During  the  struggles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in  the  sixteenth  century,  Protestantism  was  saved 
again  and  again  from  being  strangled  in  its  cradle  by 
threatened  or  actual  invasions  of  the  Turks,  for  which 
the  whole  strength  of  the  Empire  was  required.  Fear 
of  the  Turks  was  then  in  every  one's  mind.  Since  that 
time  Islamism  has  decayed  in  Europe ;  but  it  retains 
its  hold  of  Central  Asia,  continues  to  make  progress  in 
India,  and  fights  with  Christianity  for  the  possession  of 
Africa. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  SUCCESS  AND  OF  THE  DE- 
CADENCE OF  MOHAMMEDANISM 

Inadequate  explanations  offered  of  the  success  of 
Mohammedanism — The  explanation  to  be  found  in 
the  personality  of  Mohammed  and  the  fundamental 
truths  of  his  teaching — His  doctrines  of  the  Sovereignty 
of  God  and  the  duty  of  submission  to  Him — His 
inadequate  theology — Necessary  failure  of  attempts  to 
supplement  or  develop  it  —  His  inadequate  anthro- 
pology—  Lessons  taught  both  by  the  success  of 
Mohammedanism  and  by  its  failure — Superiority  of  the 
Christian  conceptions  of  God  and  of  man,  and  con- 
sequently of  Christian  civilisation — Defective  estimate 
of  woman  by  Mohammed  —  Evil  results  of  this  — 
Answers  or  pleas  of  Mohammedan  apologists — Re- 
joinder— A  true  religion  sets  before  us  the  highest  ideals 
of  character  and  life — How  shall  we  commend  Chris- 
tianity to  Moslems  ? 

I.  'TMIE  personality  of  Mohammed  kindled  into 
*•  a  flame  truths  held  in  common  by  Jews, 
Christians,  and  Ilanifite  Arabs.  This  mainly  accounts 
for  his  extraordinary  success.  To  trace  its  source  to  a 
force  that  is  imponderable  may  be  unsatisfactory,  but  at 
any  rate  other  explanations  that  Jjave  been  given  will  not 
bear  even  a  cursory  investigation.  It  has  been  declared, 
for  instance,  by  apologists,  that  Christianity  succeeded 
by  appealing  to  moral  forces,  whereas  Mohammedanism 
sanctioned  the  use  of  the  sword,  and  promised  Paradise 
to  all  the  faithful  who  died  in  battle.  But  Christendom 


SUCCESS  AND  DECADENCE  OF  MOHAM.    vj 

did  not  scruple  to  use  all  the  weapons  of  the  civil  power 
as  soon  as  it  was  permitted  to  lay  hands  upon  them. 
There  was  a  wonderful  change  in  its  attitude  after 
the  conversion  of  Constantine.  Subsequently,  Charle- 
magne's arms  had  more  to  do  with  the  conversion  of  the 
Saxons  than  the  preaching  of  missionaries  had.  And, 
down  to  very  recent  times,  appeal  has  frequently  been 
made  to  the  Bible  for  authority  to  draw  the  sword 
against  the  enemies  of  God  and  the  Church.  Besides, 
are  we  to  say  that  those  who  fought  under  the  sign  of  the 
Cross  did  not  believe  in  Heaven  and  Hell — often  a  very 
material  Heaven  and  Hell — as  well  as  those  who  fought 
under  the  Crescent?  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  Mohammed  won  the  absolute  support  of  his 
first  converts  and  swordsmen  by  first  gaining  their  hearts. 
The  proper  question  to  ask,  as  Carlyle  pointed  out,  is 
this, — how  did  Mohammed  get  his  sword  ?  And  when 
gotten,  how  did  it  happen  that  tribes — chaotic  and 
ignorant — captured  strong  fortresses,  and  defeated  the 
disciplined  legions  of  Rome  that  had  conquered  the 
world  ? 

Equally  pointless  is  it  to  say  that  Mohammed  appealed 
to  the  passions  of  men  by  sanctioning  polygamy,  and 
allowing  sexual  license  in  other  ways,  and  that  he  thus 
secured  followers  who  would  have  been  repelled  had  he 
inculcated  a  rigid  morality.  On  the  contrary,  it  was 
difficult  at  first  to  make  converts  because  of  the  restraints 
which  he  imposed  on  them.  It  is  now  well  known  that 
he  appeared  to  the  Arabs  as  a  preacher  of  spiritual 
religion  and  a  reformer  of  abuses,  and  that  his  principal' 
reforms  were  minute  and  considerate  laws  affecting  the 
condition  of  women.  "The  restrictions  of  polygamy 
and  recommendation  of  monogamy,  the  institution  of 
prohibited  degrees  against  the  horrible  laxity  of  Arabian 
marriages,  the  limitations  of  divorce  and  stringent  rules 
as  to  the  support  of  divorced  women  during  a  certain 
period  by  their  former  husbands,  and  as  to  the  mainten- 
ance of  children,  the  innovation  of  creating  women 
heirs-at-law,  though  only  to  half  the  value  of  men,  the 


28  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

abolition  of  the  custom  which  treated  a  man's  widow 
as  a  part  of  his  heritable  chattels," — these  were  reforms 
as  great  as  the  people  could  then  bear.  The  case  of  the 
Thakafites  of  Taif  may  be  cited  as  an  illustration  of  the 
superiority  of  Islamism  to  the  surrounding  heathenism 
in  other  matters,  and  of  Mohammed's  resolute  attitude 
when  he  was  implored  to  wink  at  laxity,  even  for  a  little 
time,  and  in  order  to  secure  a  desirable  end.  After  the 
battle  of  Honain,  the  Thakafites  sent  ambassadors  to 
Medina  to  offer  to  do  homage  to  the  prophet  and  accept 
the  faith.  They  desired,  however,  that  fornication,  usury, 
and  wine -drinking  should  be  permitted  to  them. 
Mohammed  refused,  and  pointed  out  that,  indispensable 
as  these  practices  might  seem,  the  Moslems  had  given 
them  up.  The  Thakafites  next  begged  that,  as  a  con- 
cession to  the  foolish  multitude,  the  Rabba  or  Goddess 
of  Taif  might  be  retained  for  three  years,  or  two  years, 
or  one  year,  or  even  a  month.  But  Mohammed  was 
resolute,  and  the  only  concession  he  granted  them  was 
that  they  should  not  be  obliged  to  destroy  the  Rabba 
with  their  own  hands,  but  that  he  would  send  men  to  do 
that  effectually. 

The  fact  is  that  the  invisible  force  that  turned  slaves 
— just  escaped  from  the  brickyards  of  Egypt — into  a 
nation,  and  gave  them  victory  over  giants  and  over 
peoples  strong  in  chariots,  cavalry,  and  walled  cities, 
also  fused  the  hordes  of  the  Arabian  deserts  into  a 
resistless  army.  Moses,  fresh  from  those  deserts  two 
thousand  years  previously,  proclaimed  God  as  Jehovah, 
the  Eternal  and  Living  God,  the  Sovereign  of  the  World, 
and  also  as  the  God  who  had  spoken  to  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  and  had  chosen  Israel  to  be  His  peculiar 
people.  Israel  believed  and  became  a  nation.  The 
same  truth,  an  apprehension  of  the  highest  and  deepest 
reality  of  existence,  took  possession  of  Mohammed. 
Every  fibre  of  his  being  responded  to  it,  and  the  hearts 
of  his  followers  were  kindled  by  the  flame  in  the  prophet's 
»oul.  Mohammedanism  thus  laid  hold  of  a  power  that 
'he  Church  in  the  seventh  century  was  holding  feebly, 


SUCCESS  AND  DECADENCE  OF  MOHAM.  29 

or  allowing  to  slip  from  its  grasp.  God,  the  Soul  of 
the  Universe,  is  as  truly  a  Person  as  I  am  a  Person. 
He  is  the  Almighty  Creator  to  whom  all  nature  witnesses, 
the  Ruler  whose  will  all  history  records,  the  Revealer  of 
Himself  to  prophets,  whose  revelations  it  is  man's  highest 
wisdom  and  happiness  to  obey,  and  whose  judgments  none 
can  escape.  Both  Judaism  and  Christianity  are  based 
upon  this  truth.  Judaism  is  the  foundation  of  and  the 
preparation  for  Christianity.  The  God-consciousness  of 
Israel  expanded  under  the  leadership  of  a  long  succession 
of  prophets  and  psalmists,  who  interpreted  their  history 
as  a  process  of  divine  education.  Christianity  gives  the 
complete  revelation  of  God  in  His  Son,  and,  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  power  to  renew  us  in  the  image  of  the  Son. 
When  we  substitute  anything  else  for  the  fundamental 
truth  that  God  in  Christ  is  our  supreme  Lord  and  Master, 
He  will  rebuke  us  and  put  us  to  shame.  He  rebuked 
Christendom  for  centuries  by  means  of  Mohammed, 
though  Mohammedanism  is  only  "a  bastard  Christianity." 
Again  and  again  He  has  brought  to  nought  things 
apparently  excellent  by  things  that  are  despised,  that  no 
8esh  should  glory  in  His  presence,  and  that  all  power 
may  be  seen  to  be  His.  In  the  days  of  the  Judges,  He 
saved  Israel  by  means  of  the  bastard  Jephthah,  when 
every  one  else  seemed  powerless  to  save,  and  the 
philosophy  of  religion  can  find  a  place  for  imperfect 
Mohammed  as  well  as  for  imperfect  Jephthah  in  the 
history  of  the  divine  education  of  the  race. 

The  great  truth  which  Mohammed  taught  with  regard 
to  man's  duty  flowed  from  his  conception  of  God. 
"Islam,"  says  Carlyle,  "means  that  we  must  submit 
to  God,  that  our  whole  strength  lies  in  resigned  sub- 
mission to  Him,  whatsoever  Pie  do  to  us.  ...  It  has 
ever  been  held  the  highest  wisdom  for  a  man,  not  merely 
to  submit  to  necessity — necessity  will  make  him  submit, 
— but  to  know  and  believe  well  that  the  stern  thing 
which  necessity  had  ordered  was  the  wisest,  the  best, 
the  thing  wanted  there ;  to  cease  his  frantic  pretension 
of  scanning  this  great  God's  world  in  his  small  fraction 


30  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

of  a  brain  ;  to  know  that  it  had  verily,  though  deep 
beyond  his  soundings,  a  just  law  ;  that  the  soul  of  it  was 
good  ;  that  his  part  in  it  was  to  conform  to  the  law 
of  the  whole,  and  in  devout  silence  follow  that ;  not 
questioning  it,  obeying  it  as  unquestionable.  .  .  .  This 
is  the  soul  of  Islam  ;  it  is  properly  the  soul  of  Christianity  j 
for  Islam  is  definable  as  a  confused  form  of  Christianity } 
had  Christianity  not  been,  neither  had  it  been.  Christi- 
anity also  commands  us,  before  all,  to  be  resigned  to  God." 
Christianity  does  this,  and  it  does  more.  It  also  reveals 
in  full -orbed  beauty  the  character  of  God  who  commands 
us  to  be  resigned  to  Him.  "  Submission,"  says  Bishop 
Butler,  "is  the  whole  of  religion."  If  so,  Mohammed 
proclaimed  the  whole  of  religion.  But  it  is  not  so.  The 
Bishop  states  only  one  side  of  the  truth.  If  submission 
were  the  whole  of  religion,  man  would  never  rise  above 
the  condition  of  a  slave.  The  true  religion  not  only 
teaches  man  the  duty  of  submission,  but  reveals  to  him 
the  God  to  whom  he  is  to  submit ;  reveals  the  name  or 
character  of  God  in  such  a  way  that  submission  becomes 
elevated  into  filial  relationship,  and  filial  relationship 
implies  a  relative  independence  that  guarantees  human 
progress.  In  other  words,  the  true  religion  cultivates 
in  man  the  elements  of  fellowship  and  progress,  as  well 
as  the  element  of  dependence.  The  tishop  of  Ripon 
does  not  exaggerate  when  he  states  that  while  Islamism 
makes  full  provision  for  the  element  of  dependence,  it 
does  not  provide  for  either  of  the  other  two  indispensable 
elements  of  religion.1  Attempts  have  indeed  been  made  to 
engraft  them  on  the  system.  These  very  attempts  prove  its 
incompleteness  and  its  inadequacy  to  supply  the  spiritual 
needs  of  men.  Thus,  Mohammedans  think  and  speak 
of  their  great  prophet  as  still  living  and  pleading  on  their 
behalf  with  Allah,  but  they  do  so  in  defiance  of  his  own 
express  teaching.  They  also  try  to  bridge  over  the 
awful  gulf  between  the  creature  and  the  Creator  by  their 
worship  of  walit  or  saints.  But  the  Koran  condemns 

1   The  Permanent  Elements  of  Religion,  B;unpton  Lectures  (at 
1889,  p.  131 


SUCCESS  AND  DECADENCE  OF  MOHAM.    31 

all  such  worship,  and  puts  God  afar  off  from  men. 
Regular  hours  for  prayer  are  prescribed  and  observed, 
but  there  is  no  Redeemer  or  Intercessor  to  "put  His 
hand  upon  both,"  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  prayer 
becomes  a  matter  of  routine  which  neither  comforts  the 
heart  with  a  sense  of  fellowship  with  the  divine,  nor 
unites  to  God  as  the  source  of  ever-new  life,  inspiration, 
and  progress.  The  Siifite  movement,  too,  sought  to 
supply  the  element  of  fellowship  with  God  through  its 
doctrine  of  the  divin-e  love,  or  the  duty  of  loving  God 
supremely,  and  at  last  attaining  to  union  with  Him  ; 
but  the  movement  is  alien  to  the  spirit  of  Islamism. 
Mohammed  always  recoiled  from  every  thought,  no 
matter  from  what  quarter  suggested,  of  bringing  God 
into  any  vital  relation  with  His  creation,  save  that  which 
was  implied  in  His  making  His  will  known  through 
prophets.  Even  that  act  did  not  imply  the  blending 
of  the  divine  with  the  human  spirit,  but  simply  the 
dictating  of  words  to  the  prophet  from  an  original  text 
in  heaven,  or  rather  from  a  book  immanent  in  God  as  a 
divine,  eternal,  and  uncreated  word,  according  to  the 
dogma  which  Mohammedan  theologians  have  almost  in- 
variably taught.  There  is  thus  only  an  external  and 
artificial  bridge — the  Koran — between  God  and  man, 
and  so  there  is  no  room  for  mysticism  or  Sufism  in 
Islamism.  "  Deism  and  mysticism  cannot  really  go 
together.  .  .  .  The  conflict  of  principles  is  disguised, 
but  not  removed.  The  Moslem  who  makes  terms  with 
Sufism  thereby  gives  his  own  religion  a  certificate  of 
poverty,  and  the  true  Sufite  is  a  Moslem  no  more."1 
So  with  the  element  of  progress.  There  have  been  eras 
in  the  history  of  Mohammedanism,  in  connection  with  its 
rule  in  Spain,  Persia,  and  India,  signalised  by  remarkable 
outbursts  of  intellectual  life,  that  looked  as  if  no  religion 
would  prove  so  favourable  as  it  to  the  development  of 
the  human  mind.  Conquest  was  followed  by  progress, 
and  "the  new  earth  that  is  always  the  result  of  a  new 
heaven  "  was  a  distinct  advance  on  all  that  it  superseded. 
1  Kuenen,  Hibbert  Lecture,  pp.  49,  50. 


33          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

M.  Renan  declares  with  truth  that  for  five  hundred  yean, 
from  the  middle  of  the  eighth  to  the  middle  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  there  were  not  merely  great  thinkers  and 
scholars  in  the  Moslem  world,  but  that  it  may  even  be 
said  that  during  that  time  it  was  superior  to  the  Christian 
world  in  intellectual  culture.  But  notwithstanding  this, 
his  conclusion  and  the  conclusion  of  other  impartial 
authorities  rs  that  there  is  no  real  link  between  the  faith  of 
Islam  and  the  spirit  of  culture  and  progress.  The  remark- 
able fact  that  even  in  the  countries  where  the  efflorescence 
was  most  luxuriant  no  permanent  tree  of  knowledge  took 
root,  and  that  no  steady  development  of  humanity  can 
be  traced,  vindicates  the  apparently  harsh  conclusion. 
Its  doctrine  of  a  purely  transcendent  God  forbids  the 
fellowship  of  man  with  God,  and  there  is  no  place  for 
the  conception  of  religion  as  a  well  of  living  water  in 
the  soul,  fertilising  it  and  making  all  dead  things  live. 
"The  inspirations  of  God  cannot  be  claimed  for  man's 
art  and  science,  man's  songs  and  implements.  He  has 
bestowed  inspiration  once,  and  it  lies  within  the  covers 
of  a  book,  and  there  is  no  inspiration  for  the  working  or 
for  the  thinking  sons  of  men,  to  consecrate  thought  and 
dignify  art.  Man  may  paint  and  sing  and  study  and 
discover ;  he  may  explore  and  explain  the  wonders  of 
God's  works ;  he  may  alleviate  by  his  discoveries  the 
burden  of  life  ;  but  it  is  not  by  a  divinely-given  wisdom 
he  has  done  these  things.  God  takes  no  delight  in  such 
things." l  How  then  can  Islamism  take  delight  in 
them  ?  It  may  be  said  that  Christendom  has  also  some- 
times discouraged  science  and  art,  and  preached  the 
opposition  of  Reason  and  Revelation.  It  is  true  that 
certain  forms  of  Christianity  have  looked  coldly  on  the 
life  and  work  of  this  world,  and  preached  "other- 
worldliness "  as  the  essence  of  religion  ;  but  Kuenen 
points  out  that  "whereas  no  serious  historian  would 
ever  dream  of  simply  identifying  Puritanism  and 
Christianity,  Wahabism  is  really  Islam  itself — Islam, 
the  whole  of  Islam,  and  nothing  but  Islam," 

1  The  Permanent  Elementt  of  Religion,  p.  149. 


SUCCESS  AND  DECADENCE  OP  MOHAM.  33 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  great  duty  betokened 
by  the  term  Islam  sprang  from  Mohammed's  conception 
of  God.  That  this  world  is  God's  world,  that  God  is 
its  Sovereign,  and  that  man's  one  place  and  duty  in  the 
world  is  to  be  a  servant  of  God,  was  truth  enough  for 
Mohammed.  Everything  was  swallowed  up  in  that. 
The  nation  is  lost  in  the  Church,  and  therefore  when 
the  Church  is  not  militant  it  becomes  corrupt ;  for  the 
Church,  as  well  as  God,  is  regarded  from  an  external 
point  of  view,  and  the  mission  of  the  Church  is  to  con- 
quer all  nations,  and  fuse  them  into  one  society,  rather 
than  to  elevate,  inspire,  and  develop  the  soul  of  the 
world,  while  preserving  and  honouring  all  individual  and 
national  characteristics.  Submit  to  Allah,  Mohammed 
constantly  proclaimed.  He  is  the  Eternal,  who  has 
ordered  all  things,  and  predestinated  all  things,  good 
and  bad.  He  has  decreed,  and  no  one  can  shun  or 
escape  His  decree.  His  doctrine  of  Predestination  be- 
came Fatalism,  as  it  always  does,  when  not  held  in 
connection  with  the  more  comprehensive  truth  of  the 
Fatherhood  of  God.  The  one  word,  Kismet,  it  is  fate, 
settles  everything  for  the  Moslem.  Uttering  that  word, 
death  in  battle  has  no  terrors  for  him,  but  in  peace  he 
sinks  into  indifference  or  torpor  begotten  of  the  sense 
of  helplessness.  Unlike  the  man  in  whom  dwells  the 
calm  strength  of  faith,  he  makes  no  effort  He  neither 
works,  resists,  nor  flees ;  he  does  not  even  murmur. 
Persuade  him,  however,  that  it  is  God's  will  that  the 
impossible  should  be  done,  and  he  is  ready  to  attempt 
the  impossible.  He  can  be  roused  to  do  the  most 
wonderful  deeds.  But  once  the  work  is  done  he  falls 
back  into  inaction.  Hence  it  is  that  Mohammedanism 
is  so  much  greater  in  war  than  in  peace,  and  that  it 
points  to  astonishing  victories  over  enemies  in  arms  more 
than  to  steady  progress  in  conquests  over  nature.  "  A 
Durwesh  ejaculating  Allah  !  and  revolving  in  a  series  of 
rapid  gyrations  until  he  drops  senseless,  is  an  exact  image 
of  the  course  of  their  history." 


34 


2.  Every  religion  must  be  tested  primarily  by  its 
conception  of  God.  Here  we  find  the  strength  and 
the  weakness  of  Mohammedanism.  It  borrowed  from 
Judaism  and  Christianity  the  divine  principle  which 
expresses  the  highest  and  deepest  reality  of  existence,  and 
asserted  it  with  such  tremendous  energy  that  it  swept  over 
the  world  like  a  prairie  fire.  Poor,  unfriended,  untaught, 
Mohammed  taught  a  lesson  that  should  never  be  fcr- 
gotten.  He  taught  that  even  the  imperfect  apprehen- 
sion of  God,  if  accompanied  with  sincerity  and  energy  of 
soul,  will  accomplish  more  than  a  perfect  creed  professed 
by  numbers,  and  fortified  by  all  the  resources  of  earth.  Old 
Testament  history  is  one  continuous  illustration  of  this 
lesson  of  the  superiority  of  the  divine  to  all  that  man 
naturally  glories  in.  The  Exodus  was-  the  victory  of 
slaves  over  the  horses  and  chariots  of  Egypt.  The  con- 
quest of  Canaan  was  the  triumph  of  spiritual  force  over 
the  height  of  walls  and  the  bulk  of  giants.  Every 
deliverance  recorded  by  the  prophets  of  Israel,  and 
reflected  on,  lovingly  and  joyfully,  by  future  generations 
of  psalmists,  was  a  fresh  illustration  of  the  same  lesson. 
Every  triumph,  in  the  course  of  their  marvellous  God- 
guided  history,  taught  Israel  that  power  is  in  God,  and 
that  they  who  knew  His  name  might  confidently  put 
their  trust  in  Him.  Then  would  one  chase  a  thousand, 
and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight.  And  the  essential 
difference  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  is 
that,  in  the  New,  the  name  of  God  is  perfectly  revealed, 
revealed — in  accordance  with  the  divine  method  of  both 
Testaments — not  in  words  but  in  facts,  facts  that  were 
manifestations  of  the  Person  of  God's  only-begotten  Son. 
Strange  that  the  world  should  not  have  seen  or  should 
for  a  moment  have  lost  the  meaning  of  that  name,  when 
in  the  Cross  it  was  spelled  out  in  letters  so  large  that  the 
glare  of  imperial  splendour  could  not  hide  it  even  from 
a  Constantine.  But  so  it  was.  The  Jew  refused  the 
guidance  of  his  own  prophets  who  would  have  led  him 
to  the  Christ  ;  and  the  Christian  severed  the  truth  ol 
Jesus  from  life,  forgetting  that  the  eternal  meaning  of 


SUCCESS  AND  DECADENCE  OF  MOHAM.  35 

His  name  is  that  He  is  the  Lord  of  this  world,  that 
His  rule  extends  over  it,  and  that  His  kingdom  is  to  be 
in  deed  as  well  as  in  creed,  in  power  and  not  in  barren 
profession.  There  was  need,  then,  of  a  reassertion  of 
the  primary  confession  of  both  Jew  and  Christian  to  a 
world  that  was  losing  its  grip  of  the  truth  ;  and  what  we 
might  reverently  call  the  irony  of  God  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  this  was  given  by  one  who  was  only  a  child  com- 
pared to  the  great  Fathers  of  his  day,  by  one  who  knew 
only  the  first  letters  of  the  name  of  God.  But  what  he 
knew,  he  made  others  to  know.  He  was  quite  sure  that 
this  world  is  God's  world,  that  God  is  its  S  j vereign,  that 
man's  place  in  it  is  to  be  a  servant  of  God,  and  that  he 
had  this  message  from  God  to  deliver  to  his  countrymen 
and  to  all  men.  Christendom  will  fail  in  attracting 
Mohammedans  until  it  reasserts  this  message  with 
apostolic  power,  and  is  also  as  true  to  the  special  prin- 
ciples of  the  religion  of  Jesus  as  Mohammedans  have 
been  to  the  truth  of  the  sovereignty  of  God. 

Wonderfully  as  Mohammedanism  succeeded,  its  failure 
is  now  apparent.  The  explanation  is  to  be  found  in  its 
inadequate  conception  of  God.  It  rested  on  the  mere 
fact  of  1 1  is  unity  and  sovereignty.  Having  no  root  in 
the  deeper  nature  of  things,  in  the  secrets  of  the  divine 
character  and  the  divine  order,  its  decay  was  inevitable. 
We  can  now  stand  with  the  Mohammedan  on  the  rock- 
foundations  of  his  faith  and  show  him  the  fuller  revelation 
that  rests  on  these — a  revelation  culminating  in  a  Man 
who  exercised  power  over  nature,  but  whose  glory  con- 
sisted not  in  the  exercise  of  this  power  but  in  endurance 
and  submission,  in  meekness  and  lowliness  of  heart,  a 
Man  who  was  and  is  eternally  one  with  God,  yet  who 
sacrificed  Himself  for  sinners,  because  of  His  insight  into 
the  true  depths  and  grandeur  of  the  soul,  because  of  His 
perfect  knowledge  that  only  in  love  is  there  power  to 
rescue  man  from  bondage,  to  save  him  from  sin,  and  so 
to  turn  earth  into  heaven  and  the  sons  of  men  into  sons 
of  God,  joint  heirs  with  His  Christ.  The  Koran  does 
indeed  describe  God  as  One,  spiritual,  supreme,  compas- 


36  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

sionate,  and  holy.  But  how  can  God  be  holy  when  He 
does  not  demand  perfect  purity  from  creatures  made  in 
His  image?  His  righteousness  is  not  the  inflexible 
righteousness  of  the  Old,  much  less  the  more  awful 
righteousness  of  the  New  Testament.  His  love  is  ex- 
hibited in  a  lenient  indulgence  to  our  infirmities,  and  not 
in  making  full  provision  for  our  deliverance  from  their 
guilt  and  power.  The  divine  government  is  dishonoured 
when  forgiveness  is  made  arbitrary,  and  when  the  forgive- 
ness of  God  does  not  fill  us  with  reverential  fear  ;  and  the 
divine  character  is  lowered  when  sin  is  pardoned  without 
atonement,  and  love  is  seen  to  be  indifferent  to  its  own 
purity  and  the  righteous  demands  of  its  own  honour. 
These  defects  in  the  representation  of  God's  character 
flow  from  Mohammed's  failure  to  understand  the  mystery 
of  the  Godhead.  To  him,  God  is  indeed  a  Person, 
acting,  ruling,  and  revealing  Himself  to  prophets,  but  He 
is  only  a  Sovereign  and  not  the  Father.  Hence  there  is 
no  Eternal  Son,  who  mediates  between  fGod  and  His 
creation,  more  especially  between  God  and  His  children 
on  earth,  who  lays  His  hand  upon  both  and  unites  them 
in  the  sacred  unity  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  gulf  between 
God  and  man  is  not  bridged  over  by  the  Incarnation, 
and  there  being  no  Incarnation  there  is  no  ministration 
of  the  Spirit,  and  no  intimate  and  constant  communion 
of  the  soul  with  God  in  Christ.  There  is  no  provision 
for  bringing  man  into  that  filial  relation  to  God  which  is 
his  natural  relationship,  or  for  preserving  him  in  it  against 
the  assaults  and  seductions  of  the  principle  and  powers 
of  evil.  In  one  word,  Mohammed  did  not  attain  to  the 
conception  of  God  as  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  which 
is  the  loot  of  all  Christian  theology,  and  of  all  our 
religious  life  and  spiritual  power.  The  defective  morality 
of  Mohammedanism  and  its  proved  inadequacy  to  de- 
velop and  sustain  the  highest  civilisation  spring  from 
this  radical  weakness.  This  should  teach  us  how  prac- 
tical is  the  truth  of  the  Trinity.  When  that  doctrine 
becomes  to  us  a  mere  notion  about  God,  it  is  simply  an 
arithmetical  puzzle,  and  is  of  as  little  use  as  the  assertion 


SUCt£$S  AND  DECADENCE  OF  MOHAM.  37 

of  the  unity  of  God  was  to  the  monotheists  whom 
St.  James  ridicules.  Jesus  never  presented  the  truth  in 
that  way.  He  formulated  neither  Nicene  nor  Athana- 
sian  Creed.  When  He  declares  His  own  essential  union 
with  God,  it  is  in  order  that  His  disciples  might  see,  in 
the  divine  fact,  the  truth  regarding  their  own  relation  to 
God.  He  sets  forth  that  relationship  under  the  figure  of 
Fatherhood,  because  the  fact  of  Fatherhood  is  primary, 
fundamental,  and  universal.  Every  man,  being  a  son, 
knows  something  of  what  is  involved  in  fatherhood. 
Every  father  knows  that  his  deepest  longing  is  that  his 
son  should  be  like  that  which  is  highest  in  himself.  Jesus 
teaches  that  so  it  is  with  God  the  Father.  His  object 
in  revealing  the  Father  and  His  oneness  with  Him  as 
ft  Son  is  that  our  characters  may  be  assimilated  to  the 
pattern  of  things  in  the  heavens  which  He  Himself  is.  He 
Himself  is  thus  Christianity,  and  the  Christian  is  one 
who  knows  that  God  in  Christ  lived  and  died  for  him, 
and  that  God  in  Christ  now  lives  in  him  through  the 
Spirit.  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is 
none  of  His.  But  Mohammedanism  knows  nothing  of 
God  for  us  or  of  God  in  us.  It  has  no  Cross,  and 
instead  of  the  Person  of  Jesus  and  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  it 
offers  only  an  imperfect  book.  The  book  is  an  unalter- 
able code,  suited  in  a  very  remarkable  degree  for  Arabs 
and  for  those  in  other  countries  who  can  make  the  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca  and  observe  the  fast  of  Ramzan,  but 
certainly  not  suited  for  all  men  and  all  lands,  and  still 
less  for  all  time. 

Every  religion  must  be  tested,  in  the  second  place,  by 
its  conception  of  man,  and  an  inadequate  conception  of 
God  necessarily  tells  upon  this.  If  God  is  a  Sovereign 
but  not  a  Father,  man  or  woman  can  be,  at  the  best,  a 
subject  or  servant,  not  a  child.  Dependence  on  God  is 
accentuated,  but  adequate  provision  is  made  neither  for 
fellowship  with  God  nor  for  human  dignity  and  progress. 
This  imperfection  is  seen  most  clearly  in  Mohammed's 
low  estimate  of  woman,  and  in  the  relations  of  poly- 
gamy, divorce,  and  servile  concubinage  which  the 


38  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    W6"RLD 

Koran  established  between  the  sexes.  In  the  account 
of  Creation  in  Holy  Scripture,  a  striking  story  reveals 
how  close  and  sacred  are  the  relations  between  man 
and  woman.  These  have  been  still  further  sanctified  by 
Christianity.  Jesus,  in  condemning  the  law  of  divorce 
given  by  Moses,  is  careful  to  go  back  to  an  earlier  law, 
written  in  the  constitution  of  things,  and  to  assert  mono- 
gamy as  of  universal  obligation.  Man  can  never  rise  to 
his  true  height  when  this  primary  and  fundamental  rela- 
tion between  the  sexes  is  not  understood  and  guarded. 
Civilisation  cannot  be  permanent  if  it  is  not  based  on  a 
pure  family  life.  It  cannot  reach  the  highest  point,  if 
one-half  of  humanity  is  not  allowed  its  due  share  in 
social  life.  It  can  have  no  true  refinement  if  there  is 
no  faith  in  the  innate  purity  of  womanhood.  "  A  religion 
that  does  not  purify  the  home  cannot  regenerate  the 
race ;  one  that  depraves  the  home  is  certain  to  deprave 
humanity.  Motherhood  is  to  be  sacred  if  manhood  is 
to  be  honourable.  Spoil  the  wife  of  sanctity,  and  for 
the  man  the  sanctities  of  life  have  perished.  And  so  it 
has  been  with  Islam.  It  has  reformed  and  lifted  savage 
tribes  ;  it  has  depraved  and  barbarised  civilised  nations. 
At  the  root  of  its  fairest  culture  a  worm  has  ever  lived 
that  has  caused  its  blossoms  soon  to  wither  and  die. 
Were  Mohammed  the  hope  of  man,  then  his  state  were 
hopeless ;  before  him  could  only  be  retrogression, 
tyranny,  and  despair."1  Servile  concubinage  and 
facility  of  divorce,  as  well  as  polygamy,  tend  to  the 
degradation  of  family  life  ;  and  the  effect  of  Mohammed's 
law  forbidding  women  to  appear  unveiled  before  any 
member  of  the  other  sex  (very  near  relatives,  slaves,  and 
children  excepted)  is  to  withdraw  them  from  the  social 
circle,  and  to  make  the  highest  forms  of  society  impos- 
sible. When  we  think  of  the  part  played  by  women  in 
the  religious  and  philanthropic  life  and  work  of  Christian 
countries,  in  our  amusements,  in  education,  art,  litera- 
ture, politics,  and  every  department  of  society,  we  can 
imagine  what  their  total  withdrawal  would  mean.  A 
1  Principal  Fairbairn,  The  City  of  God,  p.  97. 


SUCCESS  AND  DECADENCE  OF  MO  HAM.   39 

religion  that  treats  woman  not  as  the  helpmeet,  but  as  the 
ilave  or  plaything  of  man,  cannot  be  permanent.  It 
must  pass  away.  It  cannot  permanently  exist  side  by 
side  with  Christianity.  It  is  at  war  with  the  funda- 
mental principles,  tendencies,  and  customs  of  modern 
life,  and  with  all  that  is  best  and  purest  in  the  heart  of 
humanity.  As  regards  woman,  Mohammed  raised  her 
status  in  Arabia  and  reformed  the  old  laws  regarding  her, 
and  therefore,  instead  of  censuring,  we  must  praise  him  ; 
but  no  religion  save  that  of  Christ  teaches  her  ideal 
position  in  the  family  and  vindicates  her  place  in  the 
social  scale. 

What  plea  do  advocates  of  Mohammedanism  offer  in 
answer  to  this  argument  ?  They  urge  the  precedent  of 
Jewish  polygamy,  and  point  to  the  terrible  "social  evil  " 
in  every  city  of  Christendom  which  exists  as  a  result  of 
inexorable  monogamy,  and  claim  that  on  the  whole 
things  are  better  in  Mohammedan  than  in  Christian 
countries.  Our  answer  to  this  is  that  the  Christian 
ideal  is  the  true  one ;  that  in  proportion  as  Christians 
rise  towards  their  ideal,  the  higher  form  of  society, 
which  is  the  result  of  Christianity,  will  become  universal ; 
whereas  the  Koran  has  affixed  a  permanent  brand  of 
inferiority  on  all  women,  and  so  lowered  the  level  of 
morality,  of  purity,  of  domestic  life,  and  of  society. 
This  is  our  answer,  also,  when  they  point  to  the  intem- 
perance found  in  Christian  lands,  which  contrasts  so 
unfavourably  with  the  abstinence  from  wine  and  strong 
drink  secured  by  the  law  of  prohibition  in  the  Koran. 
We  again  maintain  that  the  Christian  ideal  is  the  higher  ; 
that,  admirable  as  is  the  general  sobriety  which  prevails 
in  Mohammedan  countries  and  which  contrasts  so  favour- 
ably with  the  drinking  customs  of  some  Christian  lands, 
still  the  sobriety  resulting  from  an  internal  principle, 
which  distinguishes  between  the  use  and  the  abuse  of 
things  indifferent,  or  abstinence  springing  from  a  self- 
sacrificing  regard  for  weaker  brethren,  is  a  far  higher 
thing  than  the  negative  virtue  secured  by  external  law. 
Qiristianity  forbids  what  is  sinful,  no  matter  how  great 


40  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

the  frailty  of  man  may  be.  In  such  matters  it  will 
concede  nothing  to  alleged  weakness.  It  commands 
men  to  rise  to  its  standard  ;  it  offers  the  powers  of 
the  world  to  come  to  enable  them  to  rise ;  and  it 
promises  unspeakable  blessings  as  the  reward  of  obedi- 
ence. With  regard  to  what  is  not  in  itself  sinful,  but 
only  dangerous,  and  therefore  inexpedient  in  certain 
circumstances,  places,  or  times,  its  position  is  different 
It  declines  to  take  the  short  cut  which  Mohammed  and 
Gautama  both  took,  and  which  is  so  fascinating  still  to 
those  who  are  swayed  by  their  emotions.  It  throws 
upon  us  the  responsibility  of  distinguishing  when  we 
should  and  when  we  should  not  abstain,  and  so  makes 
abstinence  moral  and  not  merely  mechanical ;  while  by 
its  all-embracing  principle,  that  whatsoever  we  do, 
whether  we  eat  or  drink,  we  are  to  do  all  to  the  glory 
of  God,  it  elevates  every  detail  of  life  to  the  dignity  of  a 
moral  discipline,  and  so  makes  the  whole  of  life  divine. 

How  shall  we  commend  Christianity  to  Moslems  ? 

We  must  act  along  the  lines  of  least  resistance. 
These  are  suggested  to  us  by  Mohammed's  attitude  to 
the  Old  and  New  Testament  Scriptures.  He  held  these 
to  be  of  divine  authority,  and  therefore,  though  he  him- 
self knew  only  fragments  of  them,  he  commanded  his 
followers  to  believe  them.  The  favour  of  God  is  pro- 
mised to  all  who  believe  in  the  complete  revelation  of 
His  will,  and  those  who  disbelieve  any  part  thereof  are 
"  the  real  infidels."  Sir  William  Muir  has  brought  to- 
gether all  the  passages  in  the  Koran  in  which  reference 
is  made  to  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures,  with  the 
result  of  showing  that  the  Bible  is  invariably  mentioned 
as  from  God.  Here,  then,  is  the  door  by  which  we 
should  enter  in,  in  dealing  with  Moslems.  We  can 
approach  them  in  the  spirit  of  brotherhood,  as  men 
having  a  common  heritage.  We  can  show  to  all  who 
are  reasonable  and  who  appreciate  the  principles  and 
methods  of  modern  criticism  that  there  is  the  fullest 
proof  for  the  accuracy  of  our  Scriptures — better  proof, 
indeed,  than  for  any  other  ancient  documents.  The 


SUCCESS  AND  DECADENCE  OF  MO  HAM.  41 

Koran  commands  the  faithful  to  accept  the  testimony  of 
these  Scriptures,  and  they  can  refuse  to  do  so  only  at 
the  peril  of  their  salvation.  Once  they  are  brought  to 
an  intelligent  study  of  them,  who  can  doubt  the  result  ? 
All  that  they  value  in  the  Koran  they  will  find  more 
powerfully  stated  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  ;  and 
they  will  find  more.  The  Koran  may  thus  be  used  to 
lead  earnest  seekers  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  whom  Mohammed 
himself,  we  may  well  believe,  would  have  acknowledged 
as  his  Lord,  had  he  only  known  Him  as  we  know  Him. 
By  this  method  we  may  hope  to  reach  individuals. 
But  organised  Mohammedanism  will  remain,  until 
organised  Christendom  reflects  the  spirit  of  Christ — 
in  peace  and  in  war,  in  political,  social,  industrial, 
economic,  and  domestic  life,  in  its  art,  science,  press, 
and  literature,  in  its  civil  and  criminal  codes,  in  its 
international  dealings,  and  in  a  Church  so  filled  with  the 
Spirit  that  it  shall  rise  above  dead  issues,  and  do  the 
work  of  to-day  ;  rise  above  the  sectarianisms  that  exhaust 
its  strength,  and  go  forward  as  one  body  to  make  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  the  kingdoms  of  God  and  His 
Christ. 


43  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 


CHAPTER    III 
CONFUCIANISM 

Birth  of  Confucius  in  the  sixth  century,  B.C. — Importance 
of  that  century  for  India,  Greece,  Judaea,  and  China — 
Antiquity  and  greatness  of  the  Chinese  people — Sig- 
nificance of  their  history  to  Confucius  and  of  Confucius 
to  them — His  unique  greatness — Parentage  and  mar- 
riage—  Nature  of  his  work  as  a  teacher — Estimate 
of  him  by  disciples  and  subsequent  generations — 
Condition  of  the  country  in  his  time — Early  religion  of 
China — The  ideal  of  Confucius — His  study  of  the  past 
— His  conclusions  therefrom — Worship  of  Heaven  by 
the  Emperor  and  of  ancestors  by  all — The  social  rela- 
tions— Reciprocity — Propriety — Confucius'  visit  to  the 
capital — Interviews  with  Lao-Tse — His  experience  as 
an  administrator — Retirement  from  office  —  Nobility 
of  bis  life — His  views  of  the  life  of  a  recluse — Return  to 
his  native  state — Completion  of  his  work — His  death. 

T7"  UNG-FOO-TSE,  or  Kung  the  master,  whose  name 
•*•*•  the  Jesuit  missionaries  Latinised  into  Confucius, 
was  born  551  B.C.,  that  is,  in  the  middle  of  a  century 
the  most  notable  in  the  history  of  the  world,  with  the 
exception  of  the  one  made  memorable  for  all  lands  by 
the  appearing,  in  the  fulness  of  the  times,  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour.  The  sixth  century  before  Christ  gave  birth 
in  India  to  Gautama,  the  Buddha,  whose  religion  is  by 
some  authorities  declared  to  number  more  adherents  than 
any  other  ;  and,  in  Greece  (where  another  division  of  the 
same  Aryan  race  found  its  home),  to  Aeschylus,  the  first 
of  a  great  prophetic  line,  and  Pythagoras,  the  father  of 
social  philosophy.  In  Judaea,  the  same  century  saw  the 


CONFUCIANISM  43 

true  religion  apparently  destroyed  by  the  capture  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  deportation  of  the  people  to  far 
distant  northern  and  eastern  lands ;  and  it  also  heard 
from  Jeremiah  that  the  destruction  was  only  preparatory 
to  a  resurrection.  It  witnessed  both  the  death  and 
the  resurrection  of  the  religion  of  Jehovah.  It  was 
illuminated  by  the  great  personalities  of  Jeremiah  and 
Ezekiel  ;  by  the  work  of  Cyrus,  the  heathen  Messiah, 
whose  attitude  towards  the  worshippers  of  Jehovah 
is  a  striking  proof  of  the  sympathetic  relations  which 
existed  between  them  and  the  Persian  conquerors  of 
Babylon  ;  and — in  anticipation  of  and  connection  with 
the  mission  of  Cyrus — by  the  great  light  of  the  prophets 
of  the  Exile,  especially  by  the  imperishable  strains  of 
him  whose  writings  were,  by  a  sound  instinct  of  the 
Jewish  scribes,  bound  up  with  those  of  Isaiah  of  Jerusalem, 
and  who,  by  as  sound  an  instinct  of  the  Christian  heart, 
has  been  named  "the  Evangelical  prophet."  The  same 
century  that  had  heard  Jeremiah  mourning  in  Jerusalem, 
and  Ezekiel  by  the  banks  of  the  Chebar,  and  the  loud  cry 
of  the  prophets  in  Babylon  who  "  comforted  "  the  people 
of  Jehovah,  also  saw  the  return  of  the  exiles  and  the 
rebuilding  of  Jerusalem,  and  heard  the  hopeful  words 
with  which  Haggai  and  Zechariah  and  nameless  psaknists 
cheered  the  desponding  Church  and  urged  upon  it  the 
duty  of  completing  the  temple. 

The  same  century  was  the  most  notable  in  the  long 
history  of  China.  It  produced  not  only  Kung-Foo-Tse 
but  also  Lao-Tse,  a  man  of  greater  speculative,  though  of 
infinitely  less  constructive  ability,  the  subsequent  per- 
version of  whose  teaching  is  an  instructive  warning  that 
mere  speculations  about  the  Unseen,  in  the  absence  of 
positive  revelation,  take  no  hold  upon  th*  educated, 
while  they  degenerate  into  gross  superstitions  among 
the  masses  of  the  people. 

Thousands  of  years  before  Christ,  the  ancestors  of 
the  Chinese  wandered  eastward  from  Central  or  Western 
Asia.  Their  own  history  describes  them  as,  at  that 
time,  hunters,  who  lived  without  houses,  without  clothing, 


44  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

and  without  fire  to  dress  their  food.  After  weary 
journeyings  through  deserts  and  forests,  they  reached  the 
northern  bend  of  the  Yellow  River  in  latitude  41°,  and 
entered  on  "  the  Garden  of  China."  Here  they  founded 
what  is  still  known  as  "  the  Middle  Kingdom,"  and 
gradually  driving  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  into  the 
mountains  or  the  sea  they  became  the  most  powerful 
nation  of  Eastern  Asia.  We  are  accustomed  to  think  of 
China  as  one  and  the  same  during  the  millenniums  that 
have  since  passed  away,  but  that  is  simply  because  of  our 
ignorance  of  its  history.  All  colours  are  the  same  in  the 
dark.  The  truth  is  that  society  is  ever  changing.  It  is 
impossible  to  get  anything  like  a  proper  conception  at 
China,  if  we  assume  that  it  has  always  been  what  it  is  now. 
China  has,  indeed,  solved  the  problem  of  unification  to  a 
wonderful  extent,  but  for  many  centuries  it  consisted 
of  different  kingdoms  and  races,  with  different  laws, 
languages,  and  institutions,  waging  war,  too,  upon  one 
another  as  relentlessly  as  the  kingdoms  of  the  Heptarchy 
in  England,  or  the  different  parts  of  France,  Italy,  and 
Germany  warred  with  each  other  or  with  common  foes. 
China  was  a  world  in  itself,  just  as  St.  Luke  called  the 
Roman  Empire  "the  world."  He  had  no  idea  that 
there  was  another  and  older  civilisation  far  beyond 
the  Roman  Empire,  whose  historians  wrote  of  it  as  the 
whole  world  with  the  same  good  faith  with  which  he 
applied  the  term  to  the  only  world  known  to  him. 
China  is  to-day  more  populous  than  Europe,  and  succeeds 
in  maintaining  order  with  a  smaller  army  than  that  of 
any  one  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe.  From  its  size, 
population,  and  range  of  climate,  it  should  be  regarded 
as  a  continent,  and  the  chief  reason  why  it  is  not  is  that 
Confucius,  twenty-four  centuries  ago,  compiled  a  series 
of  classics,  the  acceptance  of  which  stamped  on  the 
people  a  common  character,  with  common  customs 
and  ideals,  that  have  made  China  really  one  country. 
The  nation  had  existed  for  thousands  of  years  previously 
to  his  time,  for  the  Shoo  King,  or  Book  of  History,  which 
be  edited,  begins  as  far  back  as  2356  B.C.  At  that  point, 


CONFUCIANISM  45 

Confucius  was  able  to  get  beyond  the  misty  annals  of  a 
world  long  lost,  the  fabulous  accounts  of  prehistoric 
times — which,  however,  many  educated  Chinamen  still 
accept, — and  to  stand  on  comparatively  firm  ground.  In 
the  records  of  the  historic  past,  he  found  all  the  guidance 
that  was  necessary  for  the  preservation  and  prosperity  of 
the  state.  Believing  in  and  loving  the  ancients,  he  studied 
during  the  whole  of  his  life  the  records  of  their  sayings 
and  doings.  He  was  a  student,  canonist,  scribe  and  his- 
torian, rather  than  a  prophet  or  poet ;  in  his  own  words, 
"  a  transmitter,  not  a  maker."  While  his  system  included 
all  that  he  thought  valuable  in  the  ancient  history  and 
religion  of  China,  his  own  reflections,  even  his  limita- 
tions, modified  and  gave  unity  to  the  long  development. 
Hence  his  system  came  to  be  accepted  by  the  people  as 
having  the  stamp  of  absolute  truth  and  finality.  It  may 
almost  be  said  that,  to  know  China,  it  is  necessary  only  to 
study  the  life  and  work  of  Confucius.  In  his  voice,  as 
through  one  of  nature's  cunningly  constructed  shells,  we 
still  hear  the  multitudinous  throbbings  of  a  sea  of  four 
hundred  millions  of  human  beings.  To  this  day,  when 
•  Chinaman  wishes  to  pay  the  highest  possible  compli- 
ment to  the  greatest  benefactor  he  has  ever  had  or  the 
best  person  he  has  ever  known,  he  can  go  no  further 
than  say,  "That  man  is  almost  as  good  as  Confucius." 

"There  is,"  declared  the  official  representative  of 
China,  in  1893,  in  Chicago,  "  only  a  single  person  who  is 
venerated  as  the  teacher  for  all  generations  and  in  all 
human  attainments,  and  he  is  Confucius."  And,  "  in 
order  to  conceive  of  the  service  of  Confucius  to  mankind 
we  can  only  compare  it  to  that  of  Heaven  and  earth." 
Is  there  anywhere  else  in  the  world  a  similar  position 
accorded  to  one  who  was  a  mere  man,  and  who  did  not 
even  lay  claim  to  having  a  revelation  from  God  ?  Jesus 
declared  himself  to  be  the  Son  of  the  Highest,  and  His 
followers  admit  the  claim.  No  wonder,  then,  that  they 
worship  Him.  Mohammed  believed  himself  inspired  and 
Mohammedans  are  sure  that  he  was,  and  they  regard 
him,  in  spite  of  the  teaching  of  the  Koran,  as  still 


46  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE    WORLD 

mighty  with  Allah.  No  wonder  that  they  reverence 
him  above  all  other  men.  Gautama  Buddha  gave 
a  spiritual  interpretation  of  the  universe,  which  his 
followers  accept  as  authoritative  Revelation.  We  can, 
therefore,  easily  understand  why  the  outstanding  features 
of  their  religion  should  still  be  his  benign  figure  and  the 
hopes  associated  with  his  lofty  titles.  But  Confucius 
was  only  a  man,  inferior,  in  his  own  estimation,  to  the 
master  minds,  who  in  former  ages  civilised  the  people 
by  instructing  them  how  to  live  in  conformity  to  the 
divine  laws  of  nature,  and  who,  therefore,  were  credited 
with  originality  or  with  having  received  revelations  from 
Heaven,  while  he  was  only  their  humble  student  and 
imitator.  Yet,  while  the  ancient  kings  and  sages  whose 
names  and  services  he  celebrated  are  forgotten,  he  has 
swayed  the  minds  of  countless  millions.  A  people,  who 
have  ceased  to  worship  God,  worship  him.  His  de- 
scendants are  the  only  hereditary  nobility  in  the  land. 
Their  honours,  pensions,  and  privileges  have  been  re- 
spected in  all  the  revolutions  that  have  swept  over  China 
since  his  day.  The  poor  revere  his  name,  for  the  poorest 
labourer  knows  that  if  his  son  should  outstrip  his  com- 
petitors in  mastering  the  classics  of  Confucius,  he  may 
become  Prime  Minister  of  the  greatest  empire  in  the 
world.  The  Mandarins  honour  him  as  the  master  to 
whom  they  owe  everything.  In  every  city,  down  to 
those  of  the  third  rank,  there  is  a  temple  dedicated  to 
him,  in  which  the  learned  and  great,  up  to  the 
Emperor  himself,  offer  him  religious  service.  This 
consists  in  burning  scented  gums,  frankincense  and 
tapers  of  sandal  wood,  and  in  placing  fruit,  wine  and 
flowers  before  a  tablet  on  which  is  inscribed,  "O 
Confucius,  our  revered  master,  let  thy  spiritual  part 
descend  and  be  pleased  with  this  our  respect  which  we 
now  humbly  offer  to  thee."  The  service  is  the  same 
as  that  which  every  man  is  enjoined  to  pay  to  his  departed 
parents.  Confucius  is  thus  recognised  as  the  father  of  the 
whole  people  and — though  only  a  man — as  in  some  way 
greater  than  man. 


CONFUCIANISM  47 

Confucius  was  born  in  Loo,  a  feudal  state  in  what  is 
now  the  province  of  Shan -Tung.  His  faiher  was  an 
eminent  military  officer  of  the  most  distinguished  lineage 
in  China.  He  married  a  second  time,  when  over  seventy 
years  of  age,  and  died  when  his  son  was  only  three  years 
old,  leaving  his  family  in  poverty,  a  circumstance  which 
the  sage  ir.  after  life  declared  to  have  been  greatly  to  his 
advantage.  Early  marriages  have  always  been  the  role  in 
China,  and  therefore  Confucius  took  a  wife  when  nineteen 
years  of  age  ;  but  his  married  life  was  not  a  happy  one. 
He  was  appointed  to  different  public  situations,  the  duties 
of  which  he  discharged  with  efficiency.  Finding, 
however,  the  work  of  a  teacher — that  is,  not  a  school- 
master, but  an  instructor  of  inquiring  young  men— more 
congenial,  he  gave  himself  up  to  it,  and  his  fame  became 
•o  great  that  earnest  students  were  gradually  attracted 
to  him,  until  they  numbered  thousands.  The  character 
of  the  man  may  be  judged  by  the  impression  he  made 
upon  these  disciples.  Many  of  them  were  among  the 
ablest  men  in  China  of  their  time,  "superior  men," 
according  to  the  common  Chinese  phrase,  men  mighty 
in  word  and  deed  ;  yet  it  was  with  these  that  the  practice 
originated  of  speaking  of  Confucius  as  the  greatest  man 
that  had  ever  lived,  like  a  phoenix  among  birds,  a  moun- 
tain among  ant-hills,  and  rivers  and  seas  compared  with 
rain-pools.  "  He  had  gained  their  hearts  and  won  their 
entire  admiration.  They  began  the  paean  which  has 
since  resounded  through  all  the  intervening  ages,  nor  is 
it  less  loud  and  confident  now  than  it  was  nearly  four 
and  twenty  centuries  ago." 

In  order  to  do  justice  to  him,  we  must  try  to 
understand  the  condition  of  China  in  his  day  and  the 
nature  of  the  work  to  which  he  devoted  himself.  The 
beautiful  land  was  torn  by  discord,  harassed  by  quacks, 
and  desolated  by  almost  continuous  war.  Mencius,  who 
belonged  to  the  third  generation  of  his  disciples,  and  who 
is  perhaps  the  greatest  of  them,  says,  "  The  world  had 
fallen  into  decay,  and  right  principles  had  disappeared. 
Perverse  discourses  and  oppressive  deeds  were  waxen 


48  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

rife.  Ministers  murdered  their  rulers  and  sons  their 
fathers.  Confucius  was  frightened  by  what  he  saw,  and 
he  undertook  the  work  of  reformation." 

Every  one  seeks  a  royal  road  to  success  when 
faith  wanes  and  the  old  foundations  of  society  give 
way.  Professor  Legge  proves1  by  a  study  of  the 
primitive  characters  and  ideograms  of  China  that  its 
religion  originally  was  a  vague  monotheism.  Round 
the  worship  of  God  or  Shang-Ti  there  grew  up  an  inferior 
worship  of  multitudinous  spirits,  who  were  supposed  to 
preside  over  the  hills,  the  rivers,  the  forests,  and  other 
objects  in  nature,  and  to  all  of  whom  sacrifices  were 
offered.  A  system  of  superstitious  divination,  with  the 
object  of  predicting  future  events,  especially  of  ascertain- 
ing whether  proposed  undertakings  would  be  fortunate 
or  unfortunate,  was  also  of  early  origin  ;  and  when  the 
ordinary  mainstays  of  society  are  relaxed,  pretenders  to 
supernatural  knowledge  and  power  are  sure  to  abound. 
"The  time  will  come,"  remarked  a  sceptic  to  a  philo- 
sopher, "  when  men  will  no  more  believe  in  God 
than  they  now  believe  in  ghosts."  "  Should  that  time 
come,"  was  the  rejoinder,  "they  will  begin  again  to 
believe  in  ghosts."  The  Chinese  had  no  clear  or  sure 
knowledge  of  God,  and  genuine  religious  ideas  had  little 
operative  influence  upon  them.  They  are  naturally  a  utili- 
tarian rather  than  a  devout  people.  In  the  ancient  division 
of  the  community  (given  in  the  Shoo  King  as  existing  in 
the  twelfth  century  B.C.)  there  is  no  indication  of  a  priest- 
hood. There  were  only  the  official  or  cultured  class, 
the  husbandmen  or  farmers,  the  mechanics  or  workers, 
and  the  traders  or  merchants.  No  regular  provision  being 
made  for  the  religious  side  of  their  nature,  the  people 
became  addicted  to  fantastic  and  gross  superstitions, 
and,  in  times  such  as  those  in  which  Confucius  lived, 
these  multiplied,  and  charlatans  made  gains  out  of  the 
fears  and  miseries  of  the  people.  To  the  truthful  natuie 
of  Confucius,  insincerity  and  pretension  of  all  kinds  were 
abhorrent.  He  knew  nothing,  and  therefore  would  not 

*  Religions  of  China,  pp.  6-5!. 


CONFUCIANISM  49 

pretend  to  teach  anything,  about  the  supersensible  world. 
His  deeply-rooted  conservative  instincts,  which  he  had 
as  a  Chinaman,  an  aristocrat,  and  the  son  of  a  military 
officer,  made  him  seek  a  refuge  from  the  convulsions 
of  the  present,  as  well  as  a  remedy  for  them,  in  the 
wisdom,  the  settled  order,  and  the  institutions  of  the 
past.  A  stable  and  peaceful  society  seemed  to  him 
the  one  thing  needful.  To  secure  the  regulation  of 
the  family,  the  government  of  the  nation,  and  the 
pacification  of  the  world  was  his  ideal,  and,  though  too 
wise  to  oppose  himself  violently  to  popular  delusions,  he 
refused  to  be  drawn  aside  by  them  or  to  give  them  the 
slightest  encouragement.  Very  wonderful  has  been  the 
power  over  the  national  mind  of  the  ideal  of  Confucius, 
"the  ideal  of  a  united  and  peaceful  empire — p'ing 
fien  Asia,  '  to  pacify  all  under  Heaven ' "  (Candlin). 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it,  more  than  anything 
else,  has  been  the  secret  of  that  marvellous  unity  which 
has,  again  and  again,  enabled  China  to  triumph  over 
foreign  conquest  and  domestic  faction,  and  reassert  hei 
great  and  impressive  unity. 

In  aiming  at  this  ideal,  with  which  every  Christian  who 
ihinks  of  the  angels'  song  at  Bethlehem  must  sympathise, 
Confucius  planted  himself  on  the  laws  of  human  nature  and 
the  relations  and  duties  of  life.  He  eschewed  conversation 
about  "extraordinary  things,"  that  is,  matters  dealing  with 
spirits  or  the  supernatural  world,  though  he  made  no 
attempt  to  suppress  superstition,  believing  that  it  was 
best  combated  by  taking  no  notice  of  its  excesses.  "  We 
cannot  as  yet,"  said  he,  "perform  our  duties  to  men; 
how  can  we  perform  our  duties  to  spirits  ? "  Again, 
"  We  know  not  as  yet  about  life ;  how  can  we  know 
about  death?"  "  My  prayers,"  said  he,  "  were  offered 
up  long  ago."  He  thus  hinted  that  his  prayers  consisted 
in  living  a  virtuous  life  and  in  constantly  obeying  the 
dictates  of  conscience,  and  that  prayers  are  of  no  avail 
to  deliver  any  one  from  sickness.  We  know  that  this 
i*  what  he  meant  because  the  words  were  uttered  when 
one  of  his  disciples,  Tse-Kung,  had  asked  leave  to  pray 


So  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

for  him  when  he  was  ill,  and  had  quoted  from  a  book 
of  prayers  to  the  effect  that  prayer  might  be  made  to 
the  spirits  of  Heaven  and  earth.  "He  who  sins  against 
Heaven,"  he  said  on  another  occasion,  "has  no  place 
to  pray."  He  meant  that  spirits  have  no  power  to 
bestow  blessings  on  those  who  had  sinned  against  the 
decrees  of  Heaven.  Again,  "  For  a  man  to  sacrifice  to 
a  spirit  which  does  not  belong  to  him  is  mere  flattery." 
He  meant  that  all  men  should  worship  the  spirits  of 
their  ancestors,  but  that  to  go  beyond  the  circle  of  one's 
family,  and  worship  even  departed  great  ones,  was  simply 
flattery  and  wholly  unauthorised. 

The  great  object  of  Confucius  was  to  bring  back 
again  the  golden  age  of  the  past,  when  the  kings  of 
China  loved  virtue  and  the  people  listened  to  their 
instructions,  imitated  their  examples,  and  observed  the 
rules  of  propriety  attached  by  nature  and  the  words  of 
the  wise  to  every  station  and  relation  of  life.  He  believed 
in  the  supreme  value  of  law,  of  custom,  of  institutions, 
and  of  example.  He  therefore  gave  himself  to  an 
earnest  study  of  the  past  and  taught  his  disciples  to 
imitate  him  continually  in  this  devotion  to  study.  Here 
are  some  of  his  own  words  : — 

"  I  was  n6t  born  a  man  of  knowledge  ;  I  am  naturally 
only  quick  to  search  out  the  truth,  from  a  love  for  the 
wisdom  of  the  ancients. " 

"  I  am  not  presumptuous  enough  to  set  up  for  a  wise 
and  benevolent  man.  It  can  be  said  of  me,  however, 
that  I  am  not  weary  in  well-doing,  and  that  I  am  untiring 
in  teaching  others." 

"  I  have  gone  all  day  without  food  and  all  night  with- 
out sleep  in  order  to  think  ;  I  find  it  unprofitable,  how- 
ever, and  look  upon  study  as  preferable." 

"  I  complain  not  of  Heaven  nor  find  fault  with  men. 
My  aim  is  to  learn  from  things  below  and  rise  to  things 
above.  It  is  Heaven  alone  that  truly  knows  me." 

"  Even  in  a  community  consisting  only  of  ten  houses, 
among  the  inhabitants  thereof,  it  cannot  be  but  there 
are  individuals  whose  sincerity  of  purpose  and  love  of 


CONFUCIANISM  51 

truth  are  equal  to  mine  ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  any 
of  them  can  show  a  greater  love  for  study  than  I." 

"I  make  it  a  practice  not  to  open  the  understanding 
pf  those  who  manifest  no  zeal,  nor  to  clear  the  doubts 
of  those  who  do  not  appreciate  their  own  confusion  of 
thought.  If  I  point  out  one  corner  to  any  one  who  does 
not  know  how  to  apply  this  knowledge  to  the  other  three 
corners,  I  will  not  repeat  what  I  have  said." 

"  If  there  is  any  virtue  that  I  have  not  practised  ;  if 
there  is  any  study  that  I  have  not  mastered  ;  if  there  is 
any  righteous  course  of  action  which  I  have  known  and 
not  been  able  to  pursue ;  if  there  is  any  fault  which  I 
have  not  been  able  to  correct ;  —  these  things  are  the 
cause  of  my  sorrow." 

"  The  love  of  humanity,  not  tempered  with  the  love  of 
study,  is  blind  as  to  its  foolishness ;  the  love  of  knowledge, 
not  tempered  with  the  love  of  study,  is  blind  as  to  its 
capriciousness ;  the  love  of  truth,  not  tempered  with  the 
lov«  of  study,  is  blind  as  to  its  mischievousness  ;  the  love 
of  directness,  not  tempered  with  the  love  of  study,  is 
blind  as  to  its  uncharitableness  ;  the  love  of  courage, 
not  tempered  with  the  love  of  study,  is  blind  as  to  its 
rebelliousness ;  the  love  of  firmness,  not  tempered  with 
the  love  of  study,  is  blind  as  to  its  venturesomeness." 

What  were  the  main  conclusions  that  Confucius  came 
to,  as  the  result  of  his  zealous  study  of  the  records  of  the 
past? 

First,  that,  so  far  as  the  worship  of  Heaven  is 
concerned,  it  should  be  performed  by  the  Emperor  alone, 
both  for  himself  and  as  the  representative  of  the  people  ; 
but  that  all  persons,  from  the  Emperor  down  to  the 
meanest  of  his  subjects,  should  observe  the  worship  of 
their  ancestors.  He  thus  removed  all  that  we  would 
consider  worship  far  away  from  the  people,  and  placed 
the  essence  of  his  religious  system  in  the  institution  of  the 
family.  On  this  point,  his  teaching  has  been  observed 
in  China  from  that  day  to  this.  It  has  become  the  very 
keystone  and  cement  of  society.  Filial  piety  has  swallowed 
•p  every  other  form  of  piety.  A  man  may  believe  what 


&  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE    WORLD 

be  likes,  may  practise  what  religious  observances  he  likes, 
but  he  is  not  allowed  to  dishonour  his  parents  while  they 
live  and  still  less  when  they  are  dead.  The  State  strictly 
enjoins  filial  piety  on  all,  and  public  sentiment  insists 
upon  the  observance  of  what  is  enjoined.  Centuries  after 
Confucius,  two  other  religions,  Buddhism  and  Taouism, 
received  legal  toleration  and  semi -establishment  in  the 
country,  but  even  Buddhist  and  Taouist  priests  and  nuns 
are  not  permitted  to  put  themselves  outside  of  the  pale 
of  this  obligation.  They  are  all  alike  required  to  pay 
their  parents  proper  respect,  to  offer  sacrifices  to  their 
ancestors,  and  to  put  on  mourning  for  relatives,  according 
to  the  degree  of  relationship  which  they  hold  to  the 
deceased.  Any  violation  of  these  provisions  by  them  is 
liable  to  be  punished  with  one  hundred  lashes  and  a 
remand  to  a  secular  life.  The  Mohammedans  in  China 
also  make  no  scruple  of  paying  homage  to  their  parents 
and  of  offering  sacrifices  to  their  ancestors,  but  the 
Chinese  say  that  Christian  converts  do  not  conform 
to  the  established  practices,  although  these  are  in  their 
eyes  essentially  bound  up  with  filial  piety.  This  is  their 
chief  objection  to  Christianity,  and  patriotism  intensifies  it, 
inasmuch  as  the  missionaries  appeal  to  their  ambassadors 
to  protect  their  converts  in  violating  the  laws.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  of  the  depth  and  sincerity  of  Chinese 
feeling  on  this  matter.  You  may  preach  to  a  crowd, 
almost  anywhere,  whatever  religious  doctrines  you  please, 
with  little  risk  of  interference  or  violent  interruption  ; 
you  may  even  ridicule  their  idolatry  or  the  superstitious 
observances  connected  with  every  Buddhist  and  Taouist 
temple,  and  if  you  do  it  with  ability  and  wit  nothing  but 
good-humoured  laughter  and  applause  are  likely  to  be 
evoked,  even  from  those  who  may  be  considered  most 
devout ;  but  any  attempt  to  challenge,  still  less  to 
denounce,  the  worship  of  ancestors,  will  at  once  be 
followed  by  a  tumult  from  which  the  preacher  is  not 
likely  to  escape  scot-free.' 

Secondly,  that  man's  nature  is  good,  and  if  followed 
will  invariably  lead  him  right ;  that  Heaven  has  annexed 


CONFUCIANISM  53 

its  own  laws  to  every  faculty  and  relation  ;  that  every 
faculty  has  its  function  to  fulfil  and  every  relation  iu 
duty  to  discharge  ;  and  therefore,  that  the  foundation  of 
a  right  system  of  thought  and  life  is  to  define  clearly 
social  relations,  and  to  determine  the  rules  of  propriety. 
What  are  the  great  social  relations  ?  Those  of  sovereign 
and  subject,  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child,  elder 
and  younger  brothers,  friend  and  friend.  These  five  are 
called  the  natural  relations.  They  are  laid  down  in  the 
Book  of  Changes,  the  diagrams  in  which  were  furnished 
by  Fuh-Si,  who  is  supposed  to  have  ruled  China  4000 
years  before  Christ,  the  classical  text  by  Wen- Wang  and 
the  great  Duke  of  Chow  (who,  500  years  before  Con- 
fucius, founded  a  dynasty  that  lasted  for  800  years),  and 
the  notes  by  Confucius.  The  relation  of  husband  and 
wife  is  the  first  of  the  natural  relations  ;  and  as  the  earth 
is  subservient  to  Heaven,  so  must  the  wife  be  to  the 
husband,  the  child  to  the  parent,  and  the  subject  to  the 
sovereign.  These  are  "  the  three  mainstays "  of  the 
social  structure.  "A  noble-minded  man,"  said  Con- 
fucius, "has  four  rules  to  regulate  his  conduct  :  to  serve 
his  parents  in  such  a  manner  as  is  required  of  a  son ;  to 
serve  his  sovereign  in  such  a  manner  as  is  required  of  a 
subject  ;  to  serve  his  elder  brother  in  such  a  manner  as 
is  required  of  a  younger  brother ;  to  set  the  example  of 
dealing  with  his  friends  in  such  a  manner  as  is  required 
of  friends."  An  eminent  disciple,  Tse-Kung,  once  asked 
Confucius  if  there  were  one  word  which  would  serve  as  a 
rule  of  conduct  for  all  life,  and  he  replied,  "  Is  not 
reciprocity  such  a  word? — What  you  do  not  want  done 
to  yourself,  do  not  do  to  others."  Subsequently,  when 
the  disciple  told  him  that  he  was  carrying  this  rule  into 
practice,  he  replied,  "  Tse,  you  have  not  attained  to 
that."  He  confessed  on  one  occasion  that  he  himself 
failed  to  do  so.  Chinese  literati  say  that  in  so  confessing 
he  was  only  using  the  language  of  humility,  but  he  was 
upeaking  sincerely,  and  the  language  really  marks  the 
true  greatness  of  the  man. 

Reciprocity,  according  to  Confucius,  it  to  regulate 


54          THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

not  oniy  the  live  natural  relations  but  all  our  actions. 
Kindred  are  to  be  treated  as  kindred,  the  aged  as  the 
aged,  the  young  as  the  young,  the  virtuous  as  the  virtuous, 
— each  and  all  from  the  standpoint  of  natural  reason  which 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  education.  Elaborate  rules  to 
regulate  life  are  laid  down  in  the  Book  of  Kites,  which 
dates  from  "  the  three  epochs"  (that  is,  the  three  great 
dynasties,  of  which  the  House  of  Chow  was  the  latest), 
and  which  owes  its  preservation  to  Confucius.  The  one 
principle  at  the  basis  of  these  rules  is  "  propriety,"  a 
word  that  is  final  with  every  Chinaman.  The  Book  of 
Rites  treats  of  the  ceremonies  to  be  observed  on  attaining 
majority,  and  at  marriages,  funerals,  sacrifices,  the  wor- 
ship of  Heaven,  the  observance  of  stated  feasts,  the  sphere 
of  woman,  the  education  of  youth,  and  in  one  word,  at 
every  point  and  in  connection  with  every  fact  and  depart- 
ment of  life.  Every  detail  is  fixed,  the  professed  aim 
being  to  secure  the  greatest  good  and  preserve  the  moral 
tone  of  society.  Ilillel,  Shammai,  and  their  disciples — 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  of  our  Lord's  day — were  not 
more  fully  persuaded  that  men  could  be  made  virtuous 
by  law  than  was  Confucius.  He  believed  that,  terrible 
as  the  times  were,  he  could  reform  them.  "  If  any  one 
among  the  princes  would  employ  me,"  said  he,  "  I  would 
effect  something  considerable  in  the  course  of  twelve 
months,  and  in  three  years  the  Government  would  be 
perfected." 

For  a  long  time  he  had  no  opportunity  of  putting  his 
principles  to  the  test,  but  disciples  of  distinguished  families 
gathered  around  him  and  his  fame  increased  greatly,  so 
that  when  he  expressed  a  desire  to  visit  the  capital  and 
to  see  for  himself  its  temple  and  the  palace,  and  to  study 
the  ceremonies  established  by  the  Imperial  Court  of 
Chow,  the  reigning  Duke  placed  a  carriage  and  horses 
at  his  disposal  for  the  journey.  His  veneration  for  the 
founders  of  the  dynasty  made  this  visit  one  of  intense 
interest  to  him.  Another  object  he  had  in  making  it 
was  to  confer  with  the  venerable  philosopher,  Lao-Tse, 
who  held  an  official  position  at  Chow  as  keeper  of  the 


CONFUCIANISM  55 

Records  or  Archives.  Various  accounts  are  given  of  the 
interviews  between  the  two  sages,  from  a  comparison 
of  which  it  would  seem  that  the  older  considered  the 
younger  somewhat  pretentious  and  far  too  hopeful 
of  reforming  his  age.  On  one  occasion,  Lao-Tse  saw 
Confucius  engaged  in  study  and  asked  what  book  he 
was  reading.  "The  Book  of  Changes"  replied  Con- 
fucius; "the  sages  of  antiquity  used  to  read  it  also." 
"  The  sages  were  able  to  read  it,"  answered  Lao-Tse  ; 
"  but  you,  to  what  end  do  you  read  it  ?  What  is  the 
groundwork  of  the  book  ?  "  "  It  treats  of  humanity  and 
justice,"  was  the  answer.  "  The  justice  and  humanity 
of  the  day  are  no  more  than  empty  names ;  they  only 
serve  as  a  mask  to  cruelty  and  trouble  the  hearts  of  men  ; 
disorder  was  never  more  rife  than  at  present.  The 
pigeon  does  not  bathe  all  day  to  make  itself  white, 
nor  does  the  crow  paint  itself  each  morning  to  make 
itself  black.  .  .  .  You  are  like  a  man  who  beats  a  drum 
while  searching  for  a  truant  sheep.  Master,  you  only 
trouble  man's  nature." 

"In  this  passage,"  says  Professor  Douglas,1  "we 
have  a  clear  exposition  of  the  leading  differences  between 
Confucius  and  Lao-Tse.  Confucius  held  that  the  chief 
requirement  of  the  age  was  'the  rectification  of  names.' 
He  would  have  men  practise  humanity,  and  call  it 
humanity ;  he  would  have  men  dutiful  to  their  parents, 
and  call  it  filial  piety ;  he  would  have  men  serve  their 
sovereign  with  their  whole  heart,  and  call  it  loyalty.  Lao- 
Tse,  on  the  contrary,  held  that  when  men  professed  to  be 
humane,  filial  and  loyal,  it  was  a  sure  sign  that  the  sub- 
stance had  disappeared,  and  that  the  shadow  only  remained. 
The  pigeon  is  not  white  on  account  of  much  bathing,  nor 
does  the  crow  paint  itself  black.  If  the  pigeon  began 
to  bathe  itself,  and  the  crow  to  paint  itself,  would  it  not 
be  a  sign  that  they  had  lost  their  original  colours  ?  And 
to  with  men.  If  all  men  were  humane,  filial  and  loyal, 
no  one  would  profess  these  virtues,  and  they  would 

1  Confucianism  mnd  Taauism,  by  Robert  K.  Douglas,  pp.  at, 

in,  182-184. 


56          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

therefore  never  be  named.  And  in  the  same  way,  if  all 
men  were  virtuous,  the  names  even  of  vices  would  be 
unknown. 

"  No  wonder  that  Confucius  searched  for  twenty  years 
for  the  Taou  of  Lao-Tse  and  found  it  not.  '  If  Taou,' 
said  Lao-Tse,  '  could  be  offered  to  men,  there  is  no  one 
who  would  not  wish  to  offer  it  to  his  prince ;  if  it  could 
be  presented  to  men,  there  is  no  one  who  would  not  wish 
to  present  it  to  his  parents  ;  if  it  could  be  announced  to 
men,  there  is  no  one  who  would  not  wish  to  announce  it 
to  his  brethren ;  if  it  could  be  transmitted  to  men,  there 
is  no  one  who  would  not  wish  to  transmit  it  to  his 
children.  Why,  then,  are  not  you  able  to  acquire  it  ? 
This  is  the  reason  :  //  is  that  you  are  incapable  of  giving 
it  an  asylum  in  the  bottom  of 'your  heart.'  " 

This  was  a  Chinese  way  of  saving  that  we  must  be 
born  again,  and  that  law  is  inadequate  for  that.  Law 
has  its  function,  but  it  cannot  do  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.  The  Spirit  enters  only  into  those  hearts  which 
are  emptied  of  self  and  eager  to  give  Him  welcome. 
Confucius  did  not  find  the  Taou  of  Lao-Tse,  but  neither 
did  Lao-Tse  himself.  His  treatment  of  Confucius  and 
the  utter  failure  of  his  own  teaching  sufficiently  indicate 
that.  But  he  knew  human  nature  too  well  to  believe 
that  salvation  was  to  be  found  in  any  external  system. 

Confucius  was  puzzled  at  the  attitude  and  language 
of  Lao-Tse.  He  had  long  been  looked  up  to  with 
reverence  by  numerous  disciples ;  he  was  sure  of  his 
ability  to  reform  the  world,  if  only  princes  would  employ 
and  trust  him  ;  and  perhaps  he  could  hardly  help  showing 
in  his  manner  a  certain  consciousness  of  his  own  merits  ; 
but  here  was  an  old  philosopher  who  looked  him  through, 
and  then  flouted  him  and  his  good  deeds  and  even  his 
way  of  securing  the  reign  of  righteousness  on  earth. 
"  You  think,"  he  was  in  effect  told,  "  that  men  can  be 
reformed  by  the  imposition  of  laws,  forms  and  cere- 
monies, and  by  holding  up  for  their  imitation  the  good 
examples  of  the  ancient  worthies.  That  shows  what  a 
superficial  knowledge  of  human  nature  you  have.  Why, 


CONFUCIANISM  57 

the  more  you  multiply  laws,  the  more  ingenious  will  men 
become  in  evading  them.  Besides,  do  not  dream  that 
the  living  will  walk  for  ever  in  the  footprints  of  the  dead. 
A  temporary  success  may  be  achieved  by  your  method, 
but  that  very  success  will  be  little  more  than  a  cloak 
over  deceit  and  corruption,  and  after  a  time  wickedness 
will  burst  out  more  violently  than  ever."  These  were 
altogether  new  points  of  view  for  Confucius.  "  My 
mouth  gaped  wide,"  he  said,  "my  tongue  protruded, 
and  my  soul  was  plunged  in  trouble."  Could  it  be  that 
he  was  on  a  wrong  tack  ?  He  had  told  his  disciples  that 
at  the  age  of  thirty  he  "stood  firm"  in  his  convictions, 
and  that  at  forty  he  "had  no  doubts"  on  any  of  the 
subjects,  to  the  learning  of  which  he  had  first  bent  his 
mind  ;  yet  here  was  a  sage  who,  looking  down  upon  him 
from  a  serene  height,  scoffed  at  his  merits  and  ceremonies, 
and  called  his  learning  and  wisdom  folly.  But,  after  all, 
Lao-Tse  had  really  nothing  in  the  way  of  remedy  to 
offer.  His  ideal,  too,  meant  the  abandonment  of  the 
whole  of  that  civilisation  which  represented  the  toils  of 
all  previous  generations.  Rightly,  Confucius  would  not 
sacrifice  that.  Besides,  he  was  utterly  unable  to  under- 
stand the  process  by  which  the  more  acute  metaphysician 
had,  by  intuition  rather  than  by  logic,  attained  to  his 
point  of  view.  He  fell  back,  therefore,  upon  his  own 
position,  saying  to  his  disciples,  "  I  know  how  birds  can 
fly,  how  fishes  can  swim,  and  how  beasts  can  run.  The 
runner,  however,  may  be  snared,  the  swimmer  may  be 
hooked,  and  the  flier  may  be  shot  with  an  arrow.  But 
there  is  a  dragon ;  I  cannot  tell  how  he  mounts  on  the  wind 
through  the  clouds  and  rises  to  Heaven.  To-day  I  have 
seen  Lao-Tse  and  can  only  compare  him  to  the  dragon." 
There  was  a  fine  candour  in  this  comparison,  and  more 
courtesy  than  Lao-tse  had  paid  Confucius. 

Experience,  subsequently,  might  have  taught  him  that 
Lao-Tse's  diagnosis  of  human  nature  was  correct,  and 
that  something  more  was  needed  for  its  permanent 
reformation  than  he  proposed  to  supply.  On  his  return 
home,  he  gave  himself  up  to  his  old  tasks  of  studying 


58  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

the  wisdom  of  the  ancients,  compiling  and  editing  the 
precious  remains  of  the  old  national  literature,  and 
instructing  his  disciples.  After  some  time  his  merits 
came  to  be  so  generally  recognised  that  the  Duke 
appointed  him  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  town,  and  then 
Minister  of  Crime,  a  position  equivalent  to  that  of 
Prime  Minister,  with  full  authority  to  carry  out  his 
ideas  in  his  native  country.  His  success,  according 
to  the  accounts  handed  down  by  admirers,  was  complete. 
His  theories  when  applied  vindicated  themselves.  Order 
reigned  throughout  the  land.  He  became  such  a  terror 
to  evil-doers  that  crime  disappeared,  and  such  a  pro- 
tection to  those  who  did  well  that  he  was  the  idol 
of  the  people  and  his  name  flew  in  songs  all  over  the 
country.  We  are  told  that,  under  his  rule,  Loo,  his 
native  state,  was  as  England  had  been  in  the  time  of 
King  Alfred.  "A  thing  dropped  on  the  road  was  not 
picked  up  ;  there  was  no  fraudulent  carving  of  vessels  ; 
coffins  were  made  of  the  ordained  thickness  ;  graves  were 
unmarked  by  mounds  raised  over  them ;  and  no  two  prices 
were  charged  in  the  markets."  In  three  years  he  effected 
a  thorough  reform  in  the  administration  of  affairs. 
Scarcely  had  the  success  been  accomplished,  however, 
when  the  little  rift  appeared  that  betokened  failure.  He 
had  assured  his  disciples  that  not  only  would  his  methods 
reform  sovereign  and  people,  but  that  neighbouring  states 
would  be  so  attracted  by  the  spectacle  that  they  too  would 
imitate  the  example  set  them.  The  result  was  precisely 
the  opposite  of  what  he  had  foretold.  The  order  and 
prosperity  of  Loo  excited  only  the  jealousy  of  the 
neighbouring  states,  and  plots  were  set  on  foot  to  induce 
the  Duke  to  neglect  his  great  minister.  Beautiful  girls, 
well  skilled  in  music  and  dancing,  and  the  finest  horses 
were  sent  as  presents  to  his  Majesty,  and  they  completely 
captured  him.  In  comparison  with  warblings  from 
pretty  lips,  stories  told  by  a  somewhat  pedantic  old 
man  concerning  ancient  kings  and  sages  sounded  tedious, 
and  precepts  drawn  from  faraway  times  seemed  altogether 
impracticable.  Confucius  was  helpless.  According  to 


CONFUCIANISM  59 

his  system,  if  the  king  failed  to  do  his  duty  the  people 
could  not  be  expected  to  do  theirs ;  and  if  the  minister 
remained  at  his  post,  when  public  affairs  were  neglected, 
he  was  to  blame,  for  he  had  assumed  full  responsibility. 
"  Master,"  said  Tse-Loo,  "  it  is  time  you  went."  After 
wafting  to  see  if  the  impressive  ceremonial  of  the  solstitial 
sacrifices  would  not  bring  the  Duke  back  to  his  right 
mind,  and  finding  that  even  that  had  no  longer  power  to 
touch  his  conscience,  Confucius,  now  in  his  fifty-sixth 
year,  reluctantly  resigned  his  high  post  and  turned 
away — to  wander  for  the  next  thirteen  years  from  state 
to  state,  an  exile  from  his  native  country.  He  offered 
his  services  to  different  courts,  but  though  generally 
received  with  distinction  and  even  offered  pensions  for 
advice  which  might  or  might  not  be  taken,  he  was  never 
again  entrusted  with  power.  Either  the  prince  felt  that 
he  would  be  too  exacting,  or  courtiers  intrigued  against 
him,  or  the  old  ministers  pointed  out  that  he  did  not 
understand  the  necessities  of  the  age,  and  that,  though 
undoubtedly  a  very  wise  man,  he  was  not  a  practical 
politician.  This  soon  became  apparent  to  his  disciples, 
who,  being  more  concerned  than  their  master  at  his  loss 
of  office,  and  not  taking  his  exalted  view  of  what  he  con- 
sidered to  be  a  heaven-sent  mission,  urged  him  to  make 
concessions  in  harmony  with  the  times.  "  Your  principles, " 
said  Tse-Kung,  "are  excellent,  but  they  are  unacceptable 
in  the  Empire ;  would  it  not  be  well,  therefore,  to  bate 
them  a  little?" — "A  good  husbandman,"  replied  the  sage, 
"  can  sow,  but  he  cannot  secure  a  harvest.  An  artisan 
may  excel  in  handicraft,  but  he  cannot  provide  a  market 
for  his  goods.  And  in  the  same  way,  a  superior  man 
can  cultivate  his  principles,  but  he  cannot  make  them 
acceptable."  This  uncompromising  answer  drew  the 
best  natures  to  him,  and  never  was  he  surrounded  with 
so  many  ardent  disciples  as  in  those  later  days,  when 
following  him  often  meant  abject  poverty  and  sometimes 
peril  to  life.  He  failed,  indeed,  to  maintain  his  lofty 
attitude  on  every  occasion.  More  than  once  disciples 
ventured  to  point  out  to  him  that  his  conduct  seemed 


60  TAB  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

inconsistent  with  his  previous  teaching.  The  sunshine  of 
a  court  partially  closed  his  eyes  to  the  sins  of  a  prince. 
Danger  induced  him  to  give  an  oath  which  he  had  no 
intention  of  keeping,  and  which  he  deliberately  broke,  on 
the  plea  that  "  the  spirits  did  not  hear  oaths,  extracted 
by  force."  Still,  during  the  long  years  of  his  exile, 
his  life  was  a  very  noble  one.  The  times  were  out 
of  joint,  and,  not  being  allowed  to  set  them  right,  he 
could  do  little  but  protest  and  go  on  teaching  disciples, 
who  might  be  able  to  effect  more  in  a  happier  time.  On 
one  occasion,  in  the  course  of  his  wanderings,  he  fell  in 
with  two  men,  who,  evidently  in  conformity  with  the 
teaching  of  Lao-Tse,  had  retired  from  the  world.  Tse- 
Loo  being  sent  to  ask  for  information,  one  of  the  men 
answered  by  asking,  "Who  are  you,  sir?"  Upon  his 
answering  that  he  was  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  the  recluse 
replied,  "  Disorder,  like  a  swelling  flood,  spreads  over 
the  whole  Empire,  and  who  is  he  who  will  change  it  for 
you?  Rather  than  follow  one  who  merely  withdraws 
from  this  court  to  that  court,  had  you  not  better  follow 
those  who  (like  ourselves)  withdraw  from  the  world 
altogether  ? "  These  words  Tse-Loo,  as  was  his  wont, 
repeated  to  Confucius,  who  thus  justified  his  career  :  "  It 
is  impossible  to  associate  with  birds  and  beasts  as  if  they 
were  the  same  as  ourselves.  If  I  associate  not  with 
people,  with  mankind,  with  whom  shall  I  associate  ?  If 
right  principles  prevailed  throughout  the  Empire,  there 
would  be  no  necessity  for  me  to  change  its  state." 

The  answer  of  Confucius  was  complete.  It  shows 
us  that  if  he  had  less  insight  than  Lao-Tse,  he  had 
more  common  sense  and  a  truer  philosophy.  Pessimism 
indicates  an  unhealthy  condition,  and  despair  is  a  sin 
that  can  scarcely  be  forgiven.  To  retire  from  the  world 
is  to  despair  of  the  triumph  of  reason,  and  is  really  in- 
consistent with  faith  in  Taou,  or,  with  faith  in  man,  who 
must  be  the  highest  expression  of  Taou.  Better  far  to 
struggle  for  the  triumph  of  right  principles  against  all 
odds,  than  to  fly  from  the  struggle  and  associate  with 
birds  and  beasts  in  preference  to  associating  with  one's 


CONFUCIANISM  61 

own  kind.  We  can  practise  the  fair  humanities,  which 
are  always  within  our  reach,  though  we  have  no  message 
from  the  Unseen  suited  to  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  men. 
Flight,  even  when  apparently  sanctified  by  philosophy  or 
religion,  is  a  victory  for  selfishness.  Only  in  society  do 
we  struggle  out  of  self  into  truest  self-realisation,  through 
sympathy  with  the  life  of  our  brothers. 

As  Confucius  drew  nigh  to  his  seventieth  year,  the 
desire  to  see  once  more  his  native  province  became  ir- 
resistible, and  he  resolved  to  end  his  wanderings  and  to 
return  and  devote  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  tho.=e 
literary  labours  which  had  always  been  his  chief  occupa- 
tion. He  worked  till  the  last,  notwithstanding  old  age 
and  declining  strength,  and  completed  the  classics  which 
have  ever  since  been  esteemed  the  sacred  books  of 
China.  The  Analects  of  Confucius  and  the  Treatise  on 
Filial  Duties  were  compiled  by  his  disciples  from  notes 
of  the  master's  conversations.  There  is  not  a  Chinese 
youth  who  aspires  to  a  share  in  the  government  of  the 
country  who  has  not  thoroughly  mastered  all  those 
classics,  together  with  the  Analects  of  Mentius.  When 
Confucius  had  finished  his  great  task,  he  had  erected  for 
himself  a  monument  more  lasting  than  brass,  and  he  him- 
self felt  that  his  work  was  done.  As  his  son  and  the 
best  beloved  of  his  disciples  died,  one  after  another,  he 
felt  that  his  own  death  must  be  nigh  at  hand.  He  met 
it  like  a  Stoic,  uttering  no  prayer  and  betraying  no  ap- 
prehension, weeping  bitterly  only  for  the  death  of  those 
whom  he  had  loved  long  and  well.  One  morning  in  the 
spring  of  the  year  478  B.C.  he  went  out  to  the  front  of 
the  door,  and,  with  hands  behind  his  back,  dragging  his 
staff,  he  moved  about,  crooning, 

"The  great  mountain  must  crumble  ; 
The  strong  beam  must  break  ; 
And  the  wise  man  withers  away  like  a  plant." 

The  words  came  with  a  shock  to  the  faithful  Tse-Kung. 
"  If  the  great  mountain  crumble,"  said  he,  "  to  what 
•hall  I  look  up  ?  If  the  strong  beam  break  and  the  wise 


6a  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

man  wither  away,  on  whom  shall  I  lean  ?  The  master  I 
/ear  is  going  to  be  ill."  So  saying  he  followed  Con- 
fucius, into  the  house.  The  master  told  him  a  dream  that 
he  had  had  the  night  before,  which  indicated  that  his 
thoughts  were  dwelling  on  the  ceremonies  of  the  past, 
to  which  he  had  always  attached  so  much  importance, 
and  then  added  mournfully,  "  No  intelligent  monarch 
arises  ;  there  is  not  one  in  the  Empire  who  will  make 
me  his  master.  My  time  is  come  to  die."  Th?t  same 
day  he  took  to  his  bed,  and  after  seven  days  breathed 
his  last.  Judged  by  appearances,  his  life  was  a  failure, 
but  the  failures  of  some  men  are  infinitely  more  fruitful 
than  the  successes  of  others. 

Confucius  did  more  for  his  country  than  any  other 
among  the  countless  myriads  of  her  sons  has  done. 
He  "aimed  at  a  million."  What  matter  if  he  missed 
an  unit  I 

•'  That  low  man  goes  on  adding  one  to  one, 

His  hundred's  soon  hit : 
This  high  man,  aiming  at  a  million, 
Misses  an  unit." 

Perhaps  the  disciples  of  Confucius  who  followed  him  to 
his  grave  would  not  have  admitted  failure  in  their  master, 
even  to  the  missing  of  an  unit.  Tse-Kung,  who  built  a 
hut  near  his  grave  and  remained  in  it  for  six  years,  mourn- 
ing as  for  a  father,  said,  "  I  have  all  my  life  had  the  heaven 
above  my  head,  but  I  do  not  know  its  height  ;  and  the 
earth  under  my  feet,  but  I  do  not  know  its  thickness.  In 
serving  Confucius,  I  am  like  a  thirsty  man,  who  goes 
with  his  pitcher  to  the  river  and  there  drinks  his  fill, 
without  knowing  the  river's  depth."  This  great  man  we 
too  must  reverence.  Certainly,  it  will  not  do  for  any  one 
who  wishes  to  gain  Chinamen  to  dishonour  Confucius  os 
to  criticise  him  unfairly. 


STRENGTH  AND  WEAKNESS  OF  CONFUC.    63 


CHAPTER   IV 

SOURCES  OF  THE  STRENGTH  AND  WEAKNESS  OF 
CONFUCIANISM 

Sources  of  its  strength — Its  historic  character — Moral  code 
— Characteristic  words  of  Confucianism  and  Taouism — 
Why  Taouism  has  failed — The  ideal  of  Confucius — 
How  to  secure  it — Educational  system — Appointment  to 
all  public  offices  by  competition — Success  of  Confucian- 
ism— National  confession  of  its  inadequacy — Introduc- 
tion of  a  foreign  religion  into  China  —  Definition  of 
Buddhism — Its  success  —  Failure  of  Confucianism  to 
provide  for  the  permanent  elements  of  religion — Its 
radical  deficiency  seen  both  in  the  defects  and  excesses 
of  its  characteristic  virtue — How  shall  we  commend 
Christianity  to  the  Chinese. 

HP  HE  sources  of  the  strength  of  Confucianism  are  its 
*•  historic  character,  its  suitability  to  Chinese  ideals, 
the  excellence  of  its  moral  code,  and  its  full  recognition 
of  the  power  of  law,  of  example,  of  ceremonial  and  of 
custom. 

Confucius  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
ancient  China,  which  regarded  social  order  as  the  one 
thing  needful.  The  Emperor  as  the  head  of  the 
government  is  the  basis  of  society.  He  is  "  the  Son  of 
Heaven,"  and  is  to  the  people  what  the  father  is  to  the 
family,  the  spring  and  soul  of  their  order  and  strength. 
"  How  he  may  be  so  he  is  to  inquire  very  diligently,  and 
the  functions  of  government  are  to  be  chosen  according 
to  their  fitness  to  preserve  that  order,  according  to  their 
knowledge  of  the  maxims  upon  which  it  rests  "  (Maurice). 
It  is  no  wonder  that  a  man,  penetrated  with  these 


54  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

deeply-rooted  national  convictions,  should  have  become 
alarmed  at  the  social  chaos  of  his  time  and  have  meditated 
how  a  reformation  could  be  effected.  When  he  believed 
that  he  had  discovered  the  way,  the  thought  grew  upon 
him  that  he  had  a  mission  from  Heaven,  and  that  by 
listening  to  him  the  state  could  be  saved.  What  he  had 
to  teach  was  old  truth,  but  he  put  it  in  new  forms,  and 
his  own  reflections  often  coloured  and  even  changed 
ancient  prescriptions  and  history.  He  was  at  one  with 
Lao-Tse  in  teaching  that  it  was  the  duty  of  every  man 
to  attain  to  perfect  self-government,  not  —  as  Lao-Tse 
taught — that  he  might  live  a  solitary,  meditative,  self- 
sufficing,  primitive  life,  but  that  he  might  be  the  better 
able  to  contribute  to  the  well-being  and  order  of  the 
state.  He  found  the  bonds  and  cement  of  this  order 
in  the  actual  relationships  of  life.  Fatherly  authority 
was  the  ultimate  principle.  Let  there  be  obedience  to 
that  and  to  the  other  relations  to  which  it  leads,  and 
all  will  be  well.  He  taught,  as  clearly  as  Bishop 
Butler  in  his  celebrated  sermons,  that  our  nature  is  a 
system,  with  reason  and  conscience  supreme,  and  that 
to  rebel  against  its  laws  is  to  rebel  against  Heaven. 
Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  his  moral  code 
is  the  distinct  enunciation  of  "the  Golden  Rule." 
Professor  Legge  tells  us  that  Confucius  understood  it 
in  its  positive  and  most  comprehensive  sense  as  well  as 
in  the  negative  form  in  which  it  is  usually  quoted  in  the 
classics.  "The  peculiar  nature  of  the  Chinese  language 
enabled  him  to  express  the  Rule  by  one  character,  which 
for  want  of  a  better  term  we  may  translate  in  "English 
by  '  reciprocity.'  The  ideogram  is  composed  of  two 
other  characters,  one  denoting  '  heart '  and  the  other — 
itself  composite — -denoting  '  as ' ;  that  is,  my  heart  aa 
or  in  sympathy  with  yours." 

Reciprocity  is  the  characteristic  word  of  the  system  of 
Confucius  ;  a  word,  too,  much  more  easily  explained  than 
Taou,  which  is  the  key  to  the  teaching  of  Lao-Tse. 
What,  we  may  ask  here,  is  Taou  ?  It  means  the  way  or 
path,  and  just  as,  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  equivalent 


STRENGTH  AND   WEAKNESS  OF  CONFUC.  65 

word  came  to  mean  the  way  of  Jehovah,  or  His  law, 
or  the  way  of  the  righteous  or  the  way  of  the  wicked, 
and,  in  the  New  Testament,  "  the  way "  which  the 
disciples  of  Jesus  preached  after  the  resurrection,  so,  in 
Chinese  use,  Taou  has  these  different  meanings.  The 
word  was  constantly  in  the  mouth  of  Confucius  himself. 
With  him  it  meant  the  way  or  method  of  righteousness 
which  he  taught.  To  Lao-Tse  this  way  was  nothing 
unless  it  expressed  something  deeper,  from  which  it 
derived  beauty  and  power.  He  therefore  used  Taou  to 
describe  the  Absolute,  which  is  beyond  description.  It 
was  the  Eternal  order  or  Being  which  the  laws  of 
Nature  and  the  reason  of  man  mirrored.  Along  it 
all  beings  and  things  walk.  All  things  originate  from  it 
and  to  it  they  return.  Taou  is  also  a  living  way  for 
him  who  conforms  to  it,  and,  therefore,  should  be  the 
supreme  object  of  our  desire.  "  Cultivate  Taou  and 
virtue,"  said  Lao-Tse,  "  and  reconcile  yourself  to  a  life 
of  retirement  and  oblivion."  He  meant  that  salvation 
is  found  only  in  living  according  to  nature  and  virtue, 
and  that  to  obtain  salvation  we  must  return  to  primitive 
simplicity  and  so  imitate  the  ancients,  who  lived  without 
any  of  this  complex  civilisation  which  seems  splendid  only 
to  the  vulgar.  This  was  the  ideal  of  Greek  stoicism, 
and  Lao-Tse  may  be  called  the  Chinese  Zeno. 

So  profound  was  Lao-Tse's  insight  into  the  beauty  of 
virtue  that  he  taught  the  greatest  of  the  New  Testament 
precepts,  "Recompense  evil  with  good."  The  fact 
that  he  enunciated  this  maxim  and  that  Confucius 
could  not  accept  it,  measures  the  difference  between 
the  two  men.  One  of  Confucius'  school  heard  it,  and, 
being  puzzled,  consulted  the  master.  He  also  was 
puzzled,  formed  a  syllogism  in  his  mind  about  it,  and 
replied,  "Return  good  for  evil  1  What  then  will  you 
return  for  good  ?  Recompense  injury  with  justice,  and 
return  good  for  good." 

How  was  it  that  so  great  a  man  as  Lao-Tse,  the  most 
original  thinker  that  China  has  produced,  failed  to 
influence  China?  For  the  same  reason  that  stoicism 


66  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE    WORLD 

succeeded  only  with  elect  souls  like  Epictetus  and 
Marcus  Aurelius.  Give  up  the  vain  shows  of  the  world 
and  follow  virtue,  and  you  will  find  that  virtue  is  its  own 
reward,  cried  both  Zeno  and  Lao-Tse.  But  it  is  useless 
to  ask  men  to  give  up  what  they  believe  to  be  real  for 
something  that  to  them  is  unreal.  Christianity  has 
succeeded  with  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  because  it 
reveals,  in  God  the  Father  united  to  us  by  the  spirit  of 
Jesus,  the  great  reality ;  and  the  master  passion  of  love 
for  the  Saviour  casts  out  from  our  hearts  all  meaner 
passions. 

To  Confucius,  society  was  the  great  reality.  Civilisa- 
tion, with  its  material  splendour,  social  order  and  settled 
government,  was  an  unspeakable  blessing.  For  its  pre- 
servation he  trusted  mainly  to  the  combined  influences 
of  education,  example  and  rigid  ceremonial ;  and  to  him 
it  is  chiefly  owing  that  the  educational  system  of  China 
is  so  wonderfully  complete.  We  must  also  remember 
that,  according  to  him,  the  chief  object  of  education  U 
moral,  and  that  this  object  was  always  kept  in  view.  It 
consisted  not  in  mere  mastery  of  what  we  would  call 
the  three  R's  or  of  anything  technical,  nor  in  ability 
to  acquire  wealth,  but  in  instruction  in  ethical  and 
social  science,  and  the  formation  of  moral  character. 
One  of  the  old  kings  had  said  :  "The  great  God  has 
conferred  on  the  people  a  moral  sense,  compliance 
with  which  would  show  their  natures  invariably  right. 
To  cause  them  tranquilly  to  pursue  the  course  which 
it  indicates  is  the  task  of  the  sovereign."  Confucius 
adopted  this  as  the  pivot  of  his  educational  system. 
He  insisted  that  it  only  needed  virtue  in  the  rulers  and 
instruction  from  them  to  secure  virtue  in  the  subjects. 
Education,  therefore,  lies  at  the  very  foundation  of 
government,  ind,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  education  has  per- 
meated Chinese  society  from  top  to  bottom  for  centuries, 
while — whether  for  good  or  evil — China  is  still  far  in 
advance  of  all  other  countries  in  its  system  of  competitive 
examination. 

The  whole  public  service  is  thrown  open  to  competi- 


STRENGTH  AND   WEAKNESS  OF  CONFUC.  6f 

tion.  There  is  only  one  recognised  portal  of  office  in 
China,  and  that  is  the  examination  hall.  Consequently,  the 
administration  is  not  in  the  hands  of  demagogues,  nor  of 
persons  selected  more  or  less  according  to  the  accident 
of  birth  or  haphazard  methods,  but  of  men  who  have 
proved  their  fitness  by  submitting  to  the  severe  tests  of 
successive  examinations.  In  no  other  country,  accord- 
ingly, is  education  so  highly  valued.  All  the  gentry 
who  can  afford  the  expense  employ,  for  the  education  of 
their  children,  private  tutors  well  versed  in  the  classics, 
while  the  boys  of  the  poorer  classes  are  gathered  to- 
gether for  instruction  in  public  schools.  All  are  taught 
to  obey  their  parents,  to  be  respectful  to  their  elders,  to 
speak  the  truth,  to  conduct  themselves  with  propriety, 
to  love  their  fellow -men  and  to  associate  with  the 
good.  The  inculcation  of  duty  is  backed  up  by 
examples  from  the  lives  of  ancient  worthies,  sententious 
maxims,  and  long  quotations  from  text -books.  The 
more  of  these  that  the  students  can  quote  the  better,  and 
they  do  quote  with  astonishing  freedom  and  accuracy. 
*'  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  literati  can  repeat  every 
sentence  in  the  classical  books  ;  the  masses  of  the  people 
have  scores  of  the  Confucian  maxims,  and  little  else  of 
an  ethical  nature,  in  their  memories — and  with  a  bene- 
ficial result."  It  is  not  enough  for  candidates  for  literary 
honours  to  master  the  texts.  They  must  study  the 
different  readings  and  the  different  interpretations  that 
have  been  given  to  different  passages,  with  the  reasons 
assigned  for  each.  They  must  also  acquire  the  art  of 
composition,  and  a  style  that  combines  clearness,  vigour, 
elegance  and  purity. 

The  pupil's  first  step  is  to  pass  the  preliminary 
examination ;  and  he  is  not  only  examined  on  his  studies, 
but  the  local  magistrate  institutes  inquiries  among  his 
neighbours  concerning  his  moral  character,  and  whether 
his  forefathers  have  for  three  generations  been  respectable 
and  not  employed  in  certain  specified  occupations  that  are 
considered  degrading.  Having  stood  these  tests  he  is 
allowed,  after  three  years'  study,  to  go  to  the  examination 


68  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

that  is  hold  in  every  one  of  the  prefectures  into  which 
each  of  the  twenty  provinces  of  China  is  divided  ;  and  on 
passing  it  and  presenting  satisfactory  testimonials  of  good 
moral  character  from  scholars  of  advanced  standing,  he 
receives  his  first  degree,  and  becomes  what  we  would  call  a 
Bachelor  of  Arts.  Great  are  the  rejoicings  in  his  family 
and  his  native  place  when  this  step  is  taken  successfully. 
The  next  examination,  which  leads  to  the  Master's  degree, 
is  very  strict,  only  seventy  or  eighty  degrees  being  con- 
ferred, though  there  are  usually  thousands  of  candidates. 
In  the  following  spring  an  examination  is  held  at  Pekin 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Board  of  Rites  for  the  degree  of 
Doctor,  open  to  all  Masters  of  Arts  from  any  part  of  the 
Empire.  Only  a  certain  limited  number  from  each  pro- 
vince can  be  successful  in  this  examination.  Afterwards, 
there  is  a  final  competition  among  the  successful  Doctors, 
held  within  the  walls  of  the  palace,  the  Emperor  appear- 
ing in  person  as  the  examiner.  At  all  these  examinations 
elaborate  provisions  are  made  to  secure  impartiality  as 
well  as  ability  on  the  part  of  examiners,  and  should  any 
be  found  guilty  of  corruption  or  unfairness,  or  neglect  of 
proper  precautions,  the  punishments  are  very  severe.  In 
1858  the  chief  examiner  having  been  proved  guilty  of 
favouring  a  candidate  who  was  a  nephew  of  his  own  by 
marriage,  was  publicly  beheaded  on  the  common  exe- 
cutioner's ground  at  Pekin,  although  the  Emperor  wished 
to  spare  him  on  account  of  previous  meritorious  public 
service.  Examiners  may  set  questions  on  any  subject 
which  is  referred  to  in  the  classics  or  the  great  com- 
mentaries;— on  History  or  Geography,  meaning,  of  course, 
the  History  and  Geography  of  China  ;  on  Law,  Medicine, 
Astronomy,  Mathematics  or  Natural  Science — in  which 
as  yet  the  Chinese  are  by  no  means  strong ;  above  all, 
on  Moral  Philosophy  and  Social  and  Political  Science. 
When  the  Doctor's  degree  has  been  obtained,  the  prize 
is  felt  by  the  candidate  to  be  well  worth  his  many  years 
of  study  and  anxiety.  Every  place  of  honour  in  the 
Empire  up  to  that  of  Prime  Minister  is  open  to  him. 
After  an  apprenticeship  in  the  conduct  of  public  busin««i 


STRENGTH  AND   WEAKNESS  OF  CONFUC.   69 

under  official  superiors,  an  office  is  given  him.  The 
Chinese  consider  it  the  glory  of  the  nation  that  public  in 
struction  and  public  business  should  thus  go  hand  in  hand. 
Indeed,  we  may  say  that  an  educational  system  like 
that  of  China  is  the  ideal  after  which  many  administra 
tions  in  Christendom  are  groping.  The  British  Govern- 
ment has  adopted  the  principle,  as  regards  the  Civii 
Service  of  the  Indian  Empire,  and  it  is  being  applied 
more  and  more  to  many  departments  at  home  and  in  the 
colonies. 

Confucianism  has  had  undoubtedly  a  measure  of 
success.  It  confines  itself  to  this  world,  formal  organised 
worship  being  restricted  to  the  Emperor,  and  the  occa- 
sions for  it  being  few.  It  is  opposed  to  idolatry.  Priests 
are  unknown  to  it,  and  so  are  ministers  of  religion.  In- 
struction in  the  classics  supplies  all  that  is  thought  needed 
to  make  men  wise,  wealthy,  honoured  and  virtuous. 
Whether  we  call  it  a  religion  or  not,  this  is  what  Con- 
fucius meant  by  religion,  and  his  "way"  could  not 
have  been  tried  among  a  people  better  suited  for  it 
than  the  Chinese,  a  people  eminently  practical  and  un- 
speculative,  the  traders  of  the  East,  and  who,  so  far  as 
their  Confucianism  is  concerned,  are  "  what  people  of  the 
present  day  are  wishing  to  become  in  Europe"  (Hue). 
It  has  been  tried,  too,  on  as  vast  a  scale  as  pure  Deism 
was  tried,  in  the  case  of  Mohammedanism.  What  has 
been  the  result  ?  This,  on  the  very  surface,  that  the 
Chinese  people,  after  adopting  the  system  enthusiastically 
and  raising  temples  to  Confucius  himself,  have  all  but 
universally  acknowledged  its  insufficiency.  This  ac- 
knowledgment was  not  made  openly  by  the  literati. 
How  could  they  be  dissatisfied  with  a  system  which  gave 
them  everything  and  made  them  the  real  kings  of  China  ? 
Not  that  it  has  made  them  great  men.  They  have  proved 
themselves  barren  in  speculation,  poetry,  science  and  art, 
and  they  know  nothing  of  the  "mighty  hopes  that  make 
us  men."  One  reason  for  this  may  be  that  they  are 
trained  entirely  with  a  view  to  the  public  service,  but 
that  cannot  be  the  whole  reason.  They  are,  according 


70  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

to  the  testimony  of  competent  observers,  conceited,  im- 
moral, unprogressive,  intolerant ;  in  a  word,  all  that 
tducated  men  should  not  be.  Of  course,  there  are 
brilliant  exceptions,  but  according  to  European  experi- 
ence this  is  the  character  of  the  class.  But  even  they 
have  unconsciously  acknowledged  the  inadequacy  of  Con- 
fucianism as  a  religion.  Buddhism  and  Taouism,  though 
called  heterodox,  came  in  time  to  have  an  acknowledged 
position  in  the  State ;  and  not  only  the  masses,  but  the 
literati,  openly  or  secretly,  seek  through  these  religions 
that  intercourse  with  the  spiritual  world  which  Confucian- 
ism denies  them. 

This  is  a  wonderful  confession,  made  by  a  whole 
people.  It  shows  that  Confucius,  by  restricting  divine 
worship  to  the  Emperor,  refusing  to  acknowledge 
man's  personal  relation  to  God  and  confessing  total 
ignorance  of  the  future,  left  an  awful  void  wholly  un- 
supplied.  Taouism  offered  to  fill  this  up.  It  spoke  at 
first  of  something  divine  and  mysterious  in  each  person, 
that  was  above  earth,  above  man,  and  even  above  the 
state  ;  but  when  Lao-Tse  passed  away,  the  popular  super- 
stitions, that  had  been  growing  up  among  the  masses 
for  two  thousand  years,  attached  themselves  to  his 
name,  and  Taouism  then  degenerated  into  a  compound 
of  charms,  incantations,  magical  arts  and  elixirs,  to 
propitiate  supernatural  beings,  and  into  a  gross  idolatry 
that  often  amounts  to  Shamanism  or  demon  worship.  An 
Emperor  arose  who  was  a  blind  and  bigoted  believer  in 
these  superstitions,  and  for  some  time  Taouism  had  the 
field  very  much  to  itself.  Confucianism  was  ridiculed 
and  suppressed  ;  distinguished  teachers  of  the  system 
were  buried  alive,  and  the  classical  books  searched  for 
in  order  to  be  burned,  as  rigorously  as  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures were  searched  for  in  the  persecution  of  Diocletian 
for  the  same  purpose.  Taouism  was  thereby  dis- 
credited, but  with  the  revival  of  Confucianism  the  old 
void  was  felt  as  before.  Another  Emperor,  hearing  of 
a  great  prophet  that  had  arisen  in  India,  whose  light 
had  extended  to  Thibet,  determined  to  send  thither  for 


STRENGTH  AND    WEAKNESS  OF  CONFUC.  71 

missionaries  or  books,  that  he  might  be  instructed  in  the 
new  faith.  His  councillors  tried  hard  to  dissuade  him. 
They  pointed  out  how  grievously  he  was  departing  from 
the  longest  cherished  and  most  universally  accepted 
Chinese  maxims  by  thus  admitting  that  anything  good 
could  come  from  abroad,  but  he  was  determined,  and  in 
this  way  the  Buddhist  faith  was  imported  into  the 
Empire.  "  A  religion  resting  upon  communion  with 
the  unseen  world,  in  all  its  outward  and  in  many  of  its 
inward  characteristics  the  direct  opposite  of  the  Confucian 
system,  gained  footing  on  the  soil  on  which  that  system 
ruled  "  (Maurice). 

Taouism,  which  had  previously  been  a  mere  accumula- 
tion of  popular  superstitions,  formed  itself  into  a  systema- 
tised  religion  on  the  model  of  Buddhism,  with  temples, 
liturgies,  idols  and  forms  of  popular  worship.  Both 
supplied  elements  acknowledging  the  relation  of  man  to 
the  unseen  world,  and  the  masses  of  the  people  have 
ever  since  been  divided  between  these  two  religions, 
or  rather  they  adopt  features  from  both  indifferently, 
though  no  educated  man  will  admit  thaJt  he  is  any- 
thing but  a  Confucianist.  It  is  this  that  makes  it  diffi- 
cult to  take  a  census  of  the  "  three  great  denominations  " 
in  China.  All  three  religions  may  be  professed  by  the 
same  person.  This  is  why  Buddhism  is  credited  with 
five  hundred  millions  of  adherents  by  some  authorities  and 
by  others  with  only  one  hundred  millions.  It  all  depends 
on  whether  we  count  the  Chinese  as  Buddhists  or 
Confucianists.  Buddhism  found  the  soil  prepared  by 
Taouism.  Moreover,  it  offered  in  the  person  of  its 
founder  a  far  more  attractive  personality  than  Lao-Tse, 
and  consequently — in  spite  of  the  national  reluctance  to 
admit  that  there-can  be  such  a  thing  as  foreign  culture, — in 
A.D.  65,  it  was  officially  acknowledged  as  a  religion  of  the 
state.  Since  that  time,  by  conforming  to  Chinese  ideas 
and  modes  of  life,  and  so  becoming  a  very  different  thing 
from  the  Buddhism  of  Thibet  and  still  more  from 
primitive  Buddhism,  it  has  covered  the  whole  Empire 
with  its  temples,  and  pushed  its  conquests  to  the  far 


/a  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

north  by  means  of  zealous  missionaries,  whose  influence 
for  good  over  Tartars  and  Mongols  was  a  marvelloui 
tribute  to  the  supremacy  of  moral  forces  over  untamed 
and  bloodthirsty  savages. 

Here,  then,  we  have  on  the  very  surface  of  Chinese 
society  a  national  confession  of  the  failure  of  Confucian- 
ism. The  people  who  gave  it  birth  and  who  extol  its 
excellency  have  been  obliged  to  supplement  it  with  a 
foreign  religion.  The  result  is  a  division  of  man  into 
two  or  even  three  parts,  that  has  been  disastrous  to  life. 
When  one  professes  Confucianism  and  worships  in  a 
Buddhist  temple,  his  real  life  is  apt  to  be  divorced  from 
religion  and  his  religion  divorced  from  reason. 

As  a  political  and  educational  system  Confucianism 
has  been  so  far  successful.  It  has  made  China  the  most 
uniform,  the  most  closely  compacted,  and  the  most 
conservative  nation  in  the  world.  But  whether  the 
success  is  worth  much  may  be  questioned.  Wisdom 
being  viewed  solely  from  an  external  and  experimental 
point  of  view,  the  people  have  become  singularly  patient 
and  industrious,  it  is  true,  but  also  prosaic,  materialistic 
and  conceited.  Lao-Tse  saw  the  danger,  but  his  teach- 
ing, which  viewed  wisdom  as  something  internal  and 
mystical,  has  degenerated  into  an  idolatry  of  every  object 
in  nature  and — so  far  as  its  priests  are  concerned — into 
mere  quackery.  Buddhism  entered  on  the  field  that 
Confucianism  had  ignored  and  Taouism  failed  to  fill.  It 
is  difficult  to  define  Buddhism  in  two  or  three  sentences. 
It  has  been  represented  as  Atheism,  as  Theism,  and  as 
Pantheism  ;  as  the  actual  worship  of  saints  and  as  pure 
symbolism  ;  as  vulgar  idolatry  and  the  highest  abstract 
speculation.  There  must  be  a  point  of  view  that  includes 
and  harmonises  these  different  representations,  but  at 
present  it  is  enough  to  say  that  Buddhism  is  based  on  a 
belief  (i)  in  the  infinite  capacity  of  the  human  intellect, 
intelligence  in  man  being  identical  with  the  absolute 
intelligence  ;  and  (2)  in  the  power  of  self-culture  to  effect, 
under  the  training  of  Gautama's  Law  and  Society,  a 
change  of  heart,  which  secures  not  only  the  individual  'i 


STRENGTH  AND   WEAKNESS  OF  CONFUC.   73 

own  salvation  but  something  much  nobler — a  state  of  being 
called  Bodhisatship,  which  confers  blessing  on  countless 
multitudes  in  the  long  ages  of  the  future.  The  develop- 
ment of  'his  second  doctrine  connected  man's  interests 
and  hopes  with  supernatural  agencies  and  opened  the 
door  to  a  flood  of  superstitious  fancies;  but,  just  on  this 
very  account,  it  offered  answers  to  those  questions  con 
cerning  the  unseen  that  men  ask  and  that  Confuciamsn 
ignores. 

The  fact  of  the  failure  of  Confucianism  is  patent 
The  causes  of  its  failure  are  that  Confucius  based  reli«:ioi 
on  man  and  ignored  God.  Consequently,  he  had  not 
only  an  inadequate  conception  of  man's  real  dignity 
but  also  a  poor  ideal  for  man,  while  his  religion  was 
destitute  of  spiritual  dynamic.  Israel  and  Christen- 
dom were  taught  to  look  up  to  the  Eternal  and  to 
think  of  Him  as  not  far  from  any  one  of  His  child- 
ren. Nature  is  His  garment  ;  history  the  revelation 
of  His  will  ;  and  in  Him  we  live,  move,  and  have  our 
being.  To  know  and  to  love  God  is  therefore  the  first 
and  great  commandment,  and  experience  proves  that 
until  men  know  God  and  are  in  right  relation  to  Him, 
the  relations  between  themselves  will  not  be  felt  to  have 
real  sanctity  and  will  not  be  faithfully  maintained,  no 
matter  how  we  surround  them  with  ceremonial  and 
multiply  laws  enjoining  their  observance.  In  personal 
union  with  God  is  our  true  dignity  and  the  pledge  that 
the  individual  and  society  shall  go  on  to  perfection. 
Without  this  factor  in  thought  and  life,  there  may  be 
tenacious  conservatism  of  all  the  good  gained  in  the  past  ; 
there  may  be  a  glacier-like  immobility,  which — however 
imposing  it  may  appeaf  to  Chinamen  and  however  resist- 
less the  momentum  when  it  is  once  set  in  motion — is  so 
repugnant  to  us  that  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying, 

"  Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a  cycle  of  Cathay  "  ; 

but  there  cannot  be  that  sense  of  human  nothingness,  of 
imperfection  and  of  dependence,  from  which  arises  the 
tense  of  sin  and  which  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  true 


74  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

measure  of  our  greatness  ;  there  cannot  be  that  fellowship 
with  God  which  is  the  spring  of  life  and  joy,  which 
enables  us  to  resist  temptation  and  to  be  more  than 
conquerors  over  all  enemies ;  there  cannot  be  that  spirit 
of  progress  which  fills  us  with  the  hope  of  attaining  unto 
greater  things  than  any  that  the  past  knew,  greater 
things  even  than  those  which  Jesus  Himself  did  upon 
earth,  seeing  that  He  is  now  no  longer  conditioned  by 
the  limitations  of  humanity,  but — as  our  Head  and  Priest 
— has  ascended  to  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  where 
angels,  principalities  and  powers  are  subject  unto 
Him. 

Confucianism,  then,  does  not  make  full  provision  for 
any  one  of  the  permanent  elements  of  religion — (a)  de- 
pendence, (6)  fellowship,  (c)  progress.  Tested  by  this 
standard  it  is  even  more  defective  than  Mohammedanism. 

(a)  There  can  be  no  sense  of  dependence  where  the 
worship  of  God  is  restricted  to  the  offering  of  sacrifices 
on  state  occasions  by  the  Emperor.  This  thrusting  of 
God  into  the  background  or  to  an  inaccessible  height, 
and  the  prominence  given  to  the  doctrine  of  the  goodness 
of  human  nature  and  its  sufficiency  to  make  us  perfect, 
explain  why  there  is  so  little  sense  of  sin,  especially 
among  the  literati,  and  why  Christ  crucified  is  such  a 
stone  of  stumbling  to  the  educated  that  converts  to 
Christianity  in  China  are  almost  entirely  from  the  lower 
classes.  It  is  more  difficult  for  an  orthodox  high 
dignitary  to  become  a  Christian  than  for  "a  camel  to 
go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle."  His  inadequate 
conception  of  holiness  and  sin,  his  low  ideal  of  life, 
and  his  pharisaic  consciousness  of  merit  surround  him 
with  a  triple  coat  of  brass.  According  to  Dr.  Legge, 
Confucianism  —  though  professedly  indifferent  to  all 
religions — tends  to  make  the  heart  more  impervious  to 
the  gospel  than  even  Taouism  does,  although  the  latter 
openly  avows  its  hatred,  because  it  regards  Christianity 
as  a  rival.  "There  is,"  he  says,  "no  bringing  down  of 
God  to  men  in  Confucianism  in  order  to  lift  them  up  to 
Him.  Their  moral  shortcomings,  when  brought  home 


STRENGTH  AND   WEAKNESS  OF  CONFUC.  75 

to  them,  may  produce  a  feeling  of  shame,  but  hardly  a 
conviction  of  guilt.  Taouism,  as  a  system  of  superstitions, 
is  antagonistic  to  Christianity ;  but  where  its  professors 
confine  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  Taou-Teh-King,1 
and  cultivate  the  humility  and  abnegation  of  self  which 
are  there  so  strongly  inculcated,  they  are  more  prepared 
than  the  Confucian  literati  to  receive  the  message  of  the 
gospel.  So  I  found  it  in  the  case  of  one  Taouist 
dignitary  who  visited  me  in  Hong-Kong,  when  he  was 
more  than  fourscore  years  old.  He  told  me  that  his 
study  of  the  Taou  of  Lao-Tse  for  fifty  years  had 
convinced  him  of  his  impotency  to  attain  to  its  ideal, 
and  he  had  almost  resigned  himself  to  despair,  hopeless 
of  finding  some  truth  for  which  his  heart  yearned.  Some 
Christian  tracts  were  brought  to  the  monastery,  on  the 
hill  of  Lo-fau,  over  which  he  presided.  '  I  read  them,' 
he  said,  '  and  it  was  as  if  scales  fell  from  my  eyes.' 
He  accepted  at  once  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ. 
Of  all  the  Chinese  whom  I  met  with  in  my  long 
missionary  experience  he  was  the  one  most  '  prepared 
for  the  Lord.'  "a 

(b)  There  can  be  no  fellowship  with  a  God  who  is 
afar  off.  Human  life  then  ceases  to  be  divine.  But, 
men  will  worship.  In  the  hour  of  temptation  they  must 
either  find  strength  not  their  own,  or  make  irretrievable 
shipwreck.  In  the  day  of  distress  they  will  cry,  even 
should  it  be  to  the  unknown  God.  When  well-founded 
hopes  are  disappointed,  cherished  plans  frustrated,  and 
faith  is  mocked  or  betrayed,  it  will  only  add  to  their 
misery  to  think  that  the  Maker  of  all  things  is  a  mocker. 
When  death  snatches  away  their  best  beloved,  they  will 
not  believe  that  all  is  over  for  ever.  In  such  circumstances 
the  heart  will  not  be  satisfied  with  stale  maxims.  Any 

1  The  Taou-Teh-King  (lit.  Taou  and  Virtue-book),  the  only 
writing  that  Lao-Tse  left  behind  him,  gives  no  warrant  for  the 
superstitions  and  idolatries  of  modern  Taouism.  Though  very  brief, 
being  only  about  twice  as  long  as  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  a  good 
translation  in  English  is  much  longer,  owing  to  the  condensed  style 
of  the  original. 

.*  Rtligioiu  if  China,  pp.  294,  395. 


76          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

religion  will  be  better  than  none.  Having  no  God,  men 
will  betake  themselves  to  ghosts. 

(c)  So,  too,  there  can  be  no  spirit  of  hope  and  no 
progress  to  illimitable  horizons  for  a  people  who  find 
wisdom  only  in  the  past.  "  The  past  is  made  for  slaves," 
says  Emerson.  We  understand  what  he  means  when  we 
think  of  Confucianism.  The  result  of  dwelling  in  the 
past  has  been  that  the  God  who  inspired  the  ancient 
sages  has  receded  into  invisibility  and  only  the  sages 
are  now  seen  ;  while,  the  farther  we  are  borne  away  from 
them  down  the  stream  of  time,  the  more  dimly  shines 
their  cold  starlight.  Progress  is  possible  only  to  people 
who  believe  that  the  God  that  inspired  holy  men  of  old 
inspires  men  still,  who  believe  that  He  is  a  living  God 
and  the  God  of  the  living,  and  who  always  hear  his 
Toice  saying,  "  Speak  unto  the  people  that  they  go 
forward." 

When  a  religion  is  defective  at  the  root,  the  evil  can 
be  seen  in  every  branch.  Thus  it  is  that  the  habit  of 
dwelling  in  the  past  influences  even  the  view  taken  of  filial 
piety,  the  very  virtue  in  the  practice  of  which  China  may 
be  said  to  set  a  conspicuous  example  to  Christendom. 
The  character  that  represents  filial  piety  is  that  of  "an  old 
man  seated  on  or  supported  by  his  son."  The  opposite 
idea,  which  to  us  is  equally  true,  that  the  father  should 
make  all  the  provision  he  can  for  his  son,  is  excluded. 
Dr.  Legge  says  that  he  never  quoted  Paul's  words  to  the 
Corinthian  Church,  "the  children  ought  not  to  lay  up 
for  the  parents  but  the  parents  for  the  children,"  without 
encountering  a  storm  of  opposition.  And,  "  wlien  I  tried 
to  show  that  the  sentiment  was  favourable  to  the  progress 
of  society  and  would  enable  each  generation  to  start 
from  a  higher  standpoint,  I  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  a 
hearing." 

Not  only  is  this  characteristic  Chinese  virtue  made 
one-sided  and  thereby  injured  by  defect,  but  it  is  also 
injured  by  excess.  It  is  carried  to  lengths  which  blind 
men  to  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong,  truth 
and  falsehood.  Thus,  Confucius  would  have  a  father 


STRENGTH  AND   WEAKNESS  OF  CONFUC.  77 

conceal  the  dishonesty  of  a  son  and  a  son  that  of  his 
father.  "  Uprightness  is  to  be  found  in  this,"  he  said. 
And,1  "every  boy  has  held  up  to  him,  as  an  example 
to  be  followed,  the  conduct  of  Laou  Lai-Tse,  who,  fearing 
that  the  recognition  by  his  parents  of  the  fact  that  he 
was  seventy  years  old  would  remind  them  of  their  own 
great  age,  used  to  dress  himself  in  a  child's  dress  and 
play  about  the  room  like  an  infant  ! " 

How  shall  we  commend  Christianity  to  the  Chinese  ? 
China  will  not  be  satisfied  with  a  religion  less  historical 
than  that  of  Confucius  or  less  suited  to  her  traditions 
and  to  her  social  and  political  ideals,  but,  at  the  same 
time,  she  needs  a  religion  that  reveals  the  Eternal, 
presents  higher  ideals  of  life  and  inspires  permanent 
motives  to  virtue  and  holiness.  Religion  must  be,  in 
every  soul  and  ht  the  nation,  "  a  well  of  water  springing 
op  unto  everlasting  life." 

Ideas  now  flow  from  people  to  people.  Men  are 
beginning  to  be  conscious  of  their  common  humanity 
and  to  feel  that  truth  is  one.  Other  races  may  die  out, 
but  the  Chinese  will  be  one  of  the  permanent  factors  of 
humanity.  Their  fibre  is  of  the  toughest.  Confucius 
ignored  their  spiritual  needs.  Lao-Tse  and  Gautama 
have  tried  and  failed  to  satisfy  them.  But  all  these 
three  great  men  may  be  made  schoolmasters  to  lead 
China  to  Christ,  even  as  Zeno,  Plato,  Cicero,  and  their 
.successors,  were  the  schoolmasters  that  led  the  Greek  and 
Latin-speaking  world  to  Him  in  the  centuries  after  the 
resurrection.  The  old  schoolmasters  must  be  acknow- 
ledged. All  due  honour  must  be  paid  to  them.  No 
man  is  fitted  to  present  the  gospel  to  the  Chinese  till 
he  has  become  a  Chinaman,  as  Paul  became  a  Greek, 
a  barbarian,  or  a  Jew.  Injustice  done  to  their  nation 
by  the  nations  of  Christendom,  high-handed  treatment 
of  their  kindred  when  they  come  to  our  shores,  contempt 
for  their  ancient  customs, — these  things  will  only  provoke 
retaliation,  which  will  be  all  the  more  severe  the  longer 
it  may  be  delayed.  We  must  operate  along  the  lines  of 
*  Cenfrcumitm  and  Taouitm,  by  R.  K.  Douglas,  pp.  120,  145-146 


78  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

least  resistance.  Matteo  Rice;,  Schaal,  Legge,  Martin, 
Mackay,  and  other  wise  men  have  shown  the  way.  It 
is  thus  pointed  out  by  one  of  themselves,  the  Hon. 
Pung-Kwang-Yu,  in  his  address  at  Chicago:  "Let 
missionaries  impress  upon  the  male  portion  of  their 
converts  the  importance  of  teaching  the  female  portion 
at  home,  in  order  not  to  have  women  and  girls  frequent 
churches.  The  only  God  is  omnipresent  according  to 
the  teaching  of  Christianity.  Christ  himself  prayed 
only  for  others  in  public  worship,  while  he  taught  his 
disciples  to  pray  in  secret,  and  never  recommended  that 
men  and  women  should  go  to  the  house  of  worship 
together.  There  is  no  objection,  however,  to  men 
teaching  men  and  women  teaching  women  in  separate 
houses  of  worship.  In  the  next  place,  Christian  converts 
in  China  should  be  made  to  understand'  that  they  should 
look  after  and  support  their  aged  and  infirm  parents, 
and  should  be  permitted  neither  to  live  apart  from  their 
parents  nor  to  destroy  the  halls  for  the  worship  of  their 
ancestors.  Perhaps  the  customs  of  the  Chinese  people 
are  different  from  the  customs  of  the  western  nations 
in  this  respect,  but  there  is  nothing  in  this  practice  that 
seems  to  run  counter  to  the  commandment  given  by 
Moses  and  Christ,  '  Thou  shalt  honour  thy  father  and 
thy  mother.'  These  two  things  are  the  most  important 
for  missionaries  to  bear  in  mind  if  they  have  the  welfare 
of  the  missionary  cause  in  China  at  heart  and  desire  to- 
secure  for  themselves  the  enjoyment  of  peace  and  freedom 
from  molestation." 

After  Paul  and  his  fellow -labourers  had  been  two 
years  in  Ephesus,  the  town-clerk  testified  that  "  these 
men  were  neither  robbers  of  temples  nor  blasphemers 
of  our  Goddess."  One  result  of  doing  missionary  work 
in  this  way  was  that  "  all  they  which  dwelt  an  Asia 
heard  the  word  of  the  Lord."  Paul  knew  well  that 
when  Jesus  entered  the  heart,  there  would  be  no  place 
for  Diana.  He  who  runs  may  read  the  lesson  of  thij 
example,  even  should  he  unwisely  consider  it  his  duty 
to  disregard  the  counsels  of  a  Chinese  official. 


HINDUISM 


CHAPTER   V 
HINDUISM 

Religions  in  India — Causes  why  Mohammedanism  continues 
to  make  proselytes — Origin  of  the  people  of  India — 
Hinduism  not  identified  with  one  name — Necessity  to 
study  its  various  religious  books  and  its  history — The 
Vedic  literature — The  Rig -Veda — Development  into 
Brahmanism  —  Its  theological,  priestly,  and  philo- 
sophical sides — Its  advance  upon  Vedism — Its  general 
creed — Sacred  law  books — Contest  with  Buddhism — 
The  Epics — Doctrine  of  incarnations — Modern  Hindu- 
ism— Sacred  books  inculcating  salvation  by  faith — The 
form,  tone,  and  contents  of  the  Puranas — Popular  Hindu 
sects  —  Vaishnavism  and  Saivism  —  Demonolatry  — 
Summary  of  what  we  find  and  what  we  do  not  find  in 
Hinduism. 

TNDIA  is  a  country  superior  to  China  in  interest  and 
•*•  inferior  only  in  population.  It,  too,  may  be  called  a 
continent,  for  it  is  continental  as  regards  great  natural 
boundaries,  size,  population,  and  varieties  of  race,  religion, 
and  language.  Its  population  includes  nearly  two  hundred 
millions  of  Hindus,  more  than  fifty  millions  of  Mohammed- 
ans, and  about  twenty  or  thirty  millions  of  aboriginal  tribes 
that  have  not  yet  been  absorbed  into  the  general  com- 
munity. When  Arab,  Afghan  or  Persian  Mohammedan 
invaders  ruled  India,  many  of  the  people  became  converts 
to  the  religion  of  the  court.  Successful  proselytism  still 
goes  on.  The  main  causes  are  said  to  be  two :  ( I )  The  de- 
sire to  be  freed  from  the  bondage  of  caste  and  to  become 
united  to  a  common  brotherhood.  The  early  success  of 


8o  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

Buddhism  in  India  shows  how  strong  an  appeal  this 
sentiment  makes  to  the  Hindu  mind,  though  the  fact  of 
Brahmanism  being  able  to  maintain  the  institution  of 
caste  shows  that  there  is  an  opposite  sentiment  equally 
influential.  (2)  The  conviction  that  the  Universe  is  one, 
which  is  at  the  basis  of  Hinduism,  inspires  a  desire  to 
escape  from  the  bewildering  multiplicity  of  the  popular 
deities  to  the  simple  monotheism  of  Mohammedanism, 
with  its  easily  learned  cry,  "  There  is  no  god  but  God, 
and  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God."  Both  causes 
augur  well  for  the  eventual  triumph  of  Christianity. 

India  is  now  part  of  the  British  Empire,  and  its  higher 
castes  are  of  the  same  Aryan  or  Indo-European  race 
as  ourselves.  Four  or  five  thousand  years  ago,  common 
ancestors  are  supposed  to  have  inhabited  the  great  central 
plateau  of  Asia,  living  there  a  pastoral  life.  As  popu- 
lation increased,  some  bands  migrated  south-eastwards 
through  the  mountain  passes  into  the  Punjab,  and  gradu- 
ally overran  India.  Before  their  arrival  the  land  was  oc- 
cupied by  aboriginal  races  and  invading  tribes  of  Dravid- 
ian  origin,  who,  from  intermarrying  with  the  aborigines 
or  from  long  exposure  to  the  Indian  sun,  had  become  so 
dark  in  colour  that  the  invaders  called  them  "black-skins," 
in  contrast  with  their  own  fair  complexion.  Allusions 
abound  in  the  early  literature  to  conflicts  between  these 
older  inhabitants  and  the  Aryan  immigrants.  Gradually, 
the  former  were  thrust  back  from  the  fertile  plains  or 
absorbed  as  serfs  by  the  latter.  The  conquerors  gave 
birth  to  the  Sanskrit  language  and  to  the  religion  known 
successively  as  Vedism,  Brahmanism,  and  Hinduism. 
Another  section  of  the  same  Aryan  race  streamed  south- 
westwards  into  Persia,  gave  birth  to  the  Zend  language, 
wrote  the  Zendavesta,  the  inspiring  mind  of  Zoroaster 
probably  contributing  its  principal  germs,  and  established 
the  Persian  Empire,  which  under  different  forms  lasted 
as  a  world-power  till  overthrown  by  the  Mohammedan 
Arabs.  Other  bands  streamed  due  west  into  Europe. 
Of  these,  some  established  the  Greek  and  Roman,  and 
others  the  Keltic,  Teutonic,  and  Sclavonic  civilisation* 


HINDUISM  81 


The  family  has  spread  widely ;  and  now  one  branch, 
inhabiting  a  little  island  thousands  of  miles  distant  from 
the  cradle,  rules  over  the  teeming  millions  of  its  kindred 
who  found  a  home  in  India ! 

Surely,  we  ought  to  know  something  of  the  religion  of 
the  great  majority  of  our  own  fellow-subjects.  They  are 
a  people  of  profound  spiritual  instincts  and  of  the  keenest 
intellect,  and  there  is  no  fairer  land  on  earth  than  Arya- 
varta,  the  abode  of  the  Aryans,  as  they  still  delight  to 
call  it  But  it  is  not  easy  to  obtain  this  knowledge. 
Unlike  Mohammedanism,  Confucianism,  Taouism,  or — 
we  may  add — Mazdeism,  Buddhism  or  Christianity,  their 
religion  is  not  identified  with  one  name.  No  one  man 
has  been  able  to  embrace  and  represent  in  himself  its 
varied  spiritual  forces.  It  counts  inspired  sages,  prophets, 
psalmists,  law -givers,  priests,  philosophers,  reformers, 
preachers,  ascetics,  and  revivalists  by  the  thousand.  So 
many-sided  is  it  and  so  luxuriant  its  life  that,  according 
to  Sir  Monier  Williams,  "  It  is  the  natural  religion  of 
humanity  or  the  collective  outcome  of  man's  devotional 
instincts,  unguided  by  direct  revelation.  It  admits  of 
every  form  of  internal  growth  and  development.  It  has 
no  organised  hierarchy  under  one  supreme  head,  but  it 
has  an  infinite  number  of  separate  associations  of  priests, 
who  band  themselves  together  for  the  extension  of  spirit- 
ual supremacy  over  ever-increasing  masses  of  population, 
It  has  no  one  formal  Confession  of  Faith,  but  it  has  an 
elastic  pantheistic  creed,  capable  of  adaptation  to  all 
varieties  of  opinion  and  practice.  It  has  no  one  Bible, 
no  one  collection  of  writings  in  one  compact  volume, 
like  our  Holy  Bible,  with  lines  of  teaching  converging 
towards  one  great  central  truth  ;  but  it  has  a  long  series 
of  sacred  books,  some  of  which  profess  to  be  direct  re- 
velations from  the  Supreme  Being,  and  each  of  which 
may  be  used  independently  as  an  authority  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  any  kind  of  doctrine,  deistic,  theistic,  poly 
theistic  or  pantheistic."1  .Sects  of  all  kinds  spring  up 

1  Monier  Williams,  "Progress   of  Indian  Religious  Thought." 
pan  \L— Contemporary  Review,  December  1878. 

6 


82  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

in  every  century,  differing  from  each  other,  radically  and 
fundamentally,  in  their  views  of  the  world,  man,  and 
God ;  and  yet  all  alike  are  orthodox  Hindus.  We  are  thus 
without  the  key  that  proved  so  useful  to  us  in  opening  up 
the  innermost  chambers  of  Mohammedanism  and  Con- 
fucianism. There  is  no  one  great  personality  who  has 
absorbed  all  that  there  is  in  the  Hindu  mind  and  history, 
to  understand  whom  is  to  understand  the  religion  of  India. 
We  have  therefore  to  study,  instead,  sacred  books  written 
by  many  authors,  or  great  periods  of  history  to  which 
names  have  been  given  indicating  marked  stages  in  the 
progress  of  religious  thought.  For  those  who  are  never 
likely  to  read  the  sacred  books  of  India,  or  to  trace  the 
developments  that  have  taken  place  during  three  thousand 
years  of  constant  intellectual  activity,  it  must  be  enough 
to  explain  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  religion  and 
to  give  a  sketch  of  the  state  of  society  that  has  resulted 
from  their  interaction  with  other  forces. 

I.  THE  VEDIC  LITERATURE. — When  a  Hindu  scholar 
speaks  of  the  Veda  he  means 

(a)  The  books  commonly  known  by  us  as  the  four 
Vedas; 

(6)  The  Brahmanas,  subsequent  writings  that  explain, 
illustrate  and  direct  the  ritualistic  use  of  the  old  texts  or 
hymns  of  the  Vedas  ; 

(f)  The  Upanishads,  appended  to  the  Brahmanas, 
and  intended  to  bring  out  more  fully  and  systematically 
the  references  in  the  earlier  writings  to  the  great  pro- 
blems of  the  universe. 

Speaking  broadly,  these  three  divisons  of  the  Veda 
were  written  respectively  by  poets,  priests  and  philoso- 
phers ;  written  at  great  intervals  of  time.  All  alike  are 
called  the  Veda,  that  is,  divine  knowledge ;  or  S'ruti, 
that  is,  what  has  been  directly  heard  or  revealed. 

The  oldest  Vedic  literature  consists  of  the  1028  hymns 
of  the  Rig- Veda,  composed  probably  between  the  fifteenth 
and  tenth  centuries  before  Christ.1  They  were  the  first 

I  With  regard  to  dates,  we  must  remember  that  scholars  can  giv* 


HINDUISM  83 


compositions  of  the  tribes  who  are  supposed  to  have 
moved  down  in  successive  waves  of  migration  from  the 
high  tablelands  of  Central  Asia  into  the  Punjab.  Some 
of  the  leaders  of  those  immigrants  were  men  of  poetic 
and  spiritual  power.  These,  coming  in  contact  with  the 
new  and  beautiful  forms  of  nature  in  India,  burst  forth 
into  snatches  of  song  (like  those  that  are  imbedded  in 
the  Pentateuch,  e.g.  Numbers  xxi.  14-30),  or  hymns  of 
adoration  and  praise  to  elemental  forces  or  supreme  powers 
felt  to  be  beyond  all  visible  things.  These  songs,  hymns, 
and  prayers  were  handed  down  from  generation  to 
generation,  and  at  length  men  came  to  believe  that  they 
had  been  supernaturally  revealed,  and  to  this  day  the 
ancient  sages  or  rishis  who  wrote  them  are  revered  by 
all  Hindus.  They  embody  no  settled  system  of  faith. 
They  simply  express  the  vague  conceptions  of  the  best 
singers  of  the  early  Aryan  invaders.  The  gods  are  not 
sharply  distinguished  from  each  other.  In  one  hymn, 
Agni,  who  represents  fire,  in  another  Indra,  who  re- 
presents rain,  in  another  Surya,  who  represents  the  sun, 
is  spoken  of  as  supreme.  Max  Miiller  gives  to  this 
physiolatry  or  nature  worship  the  name  of  henotheism,  or 
the  worship  of  one  god  at  a  time  ;  but  it  is  a  phase  of 
religion  so  fluid  that  monotheism,  tritheism,  polytheism, 
and  pantheism,  have  all  been  deduced  from  the  Veda. 
There  is  no  reference  to  idol-worship,  to  caste,  to  suttee, 
to  enforced  widowhood,  to  self-mutilation,  to  the  trans- 
migration of  souls,  or  to  any  of  the  abuses  that  became 
connected  with  Hinduism  at  later  stages.  The  people 
ate  beef,  though  now  a  cow-killer  and  an  infidel  mean 
the  same  thing,  and  the  worship  of  the  cow  may  be  said 
to  be  the  common  bond  among  Hindus.  Sacrifice 
denoted  simply  the  dedication  to  a  god  or  the  gods  of 
a  gift  or  of  food,  as  an  expression  of  gratitude  for  bless- 
ings received  or  as  an  indication  that  the  worshipper! 
shared  in  a  common  life  with  the  deity.  The  head  oi 

only  vague  conjectures  from  internal  evidence,  and  that  these  art 
without  ihe  support  or  check  from  definite  historical  facts  alwajf 
Deeded  to  make  such  evidence  reliable. 


84  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

the  family  was  the  priest.  The  gods  were  the  elements 
and  processes  of  nature,  gradually  converted  into  the 
symbols  of  religious  feeling  or  objects  of  religious  worship. 
The  phenomena  of  light  arrested  them  most  powerfully, 
and  hence  they  gave  the  generic  name  of  Deva  or  Dyaus, 
that  is,  the  bright  one,  to  every  striking  natural  fore-  ••• 
form.  All  were  called  Devas  or  bright  ones,  and  we 
meet  with  the  name  of  Dyaus- Pitar,  Bright  or  Heaven- 
Father  ;  the  Diespiter  or  Jupiter  of  the  Romans,  the 
Zeus  Pater  of  the  Greeks  and — we  may  add — the  germ 
of  "  our  Father  in  Heaven"  revealed  to  us  in  Jesui 
Christ. 

From  such  beginnings,  and  such  a  people,  it  might 
have  been  hoped  that  a  pure  monotheism  and  spiritual 
religion  would  have  developed,  much  more  than  from 
Israel,  a  tribe  whose  natural  disposition  was  towards  the 
coarse,  bloody  and  licentious  worship  of  the  surrounding 
tribes  to  which  it  was  kin.  Instead,  we  have — after  end- 
less oscillations  and  earnest  and  pathetic  yearnings  for 
God — only  the  sects  of  modern  Hinduism,  with  Puranas 
and  Tantras  for  their  Bibles,  and  an  idolatry  so  universal 
that  it  is  easier  to  find  a  god  than  a  man  in  India  ! 

Gradually,  with  increasing  mental  development  and 
increasing  complexity  of  life,  the  inadequacy  of  the  old 
Vedism  came  to  be  felt.  Doubts  concerning  the  bright 
gods  of  their  fathers,  and  then  unbelief,  took  the  place  of 
simple  faith.  But  scepticism  and  unbelief  are  only 
stages  that  mark  the  halting  places  of  the  human  spirit 
in  its  search  after  God,  the  pauses  of  a  religious  people, 
while  new  and  wider  religious  forms  are  being  prepared. 

What  was  the  new  form  that  the  religion  of  India 
assumed  ?  As  might  be  expected,  it  was  one  that  found 
its  germs  in  and  that  fulfilled  the  old.  In  the  old  hymns 
we  note  a  perpetual  seeking  or  feeling  after  one  supreme 
being  or  spirit  which  was  felt  to  permeate  all  things.  In 
worshipping  the  light,  the  fire,  the  rain,  the  clouds  and 
the  sun,  the  rishis  were  yearning  after  God.  Him  they 
worshipped,  though  ignorantly,  as  the  Athenians  had,  in 
their  way,  before  Paul  preached  to  them  Jesus  and  th» 


HINDUISM  65 


resurrection.  The  order  and  oneness  of  nature  came 
home  to  them  more  and  more,  and  at  length  the  funda- 
mental note  of  all  subsequent  Hindu  thought  was  struck 
— "There  is  but  one  being,  no  second."  They  gave  a 
name,  too,  to  this  mysterious,  all-controlling  spirit. 
They  called  it  Brahma  (Bruhm),  or  that  which  expands 
through  all  space  and  grows  into  everything.  Brahma  is 
before  all.  All  things  are  by  him  and  all  things  are 
consubstantial  with  him.  "It  is  the  self-existing 
supreme  self,  the  only  really  existing  essence,  the  one 
eternal  germ  of  all  things,  and  it  delights  in  infinite 
expansion,  in  infinite  manifestation  of  itself,  in  infinite 
creation,  dissolution  and  recreation,  through  infinite 
varieties  and  diversities  of  operation."  * 

How  did  the  universe  originate  from  this  eternal  and 
impersonal  spirit?  By  emanation  and  not  by  creation. 
Brahma  was,  emphatically,  serene  intelligence,  thought 
rather  than  will,  rest  rather  than  a  sovereign,  one  from 
whose  meditation  all  worlds  flowed  out,  not  one  by  whose 
will  they  had  been  created.  Brahma  by  meditation  gave 
existence  to  the  waters  and  to  a  productive  seed,  which 
developed  into  a  golden  egg,  and  from  that  egg  he  was 
born  as  Brahma,  the  creator  of  all  things.  This  theory 
of  the  mundane  egg  became  the  starting-point  for  an 
elaborate  cosmogony  which  is  given  in  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Laws  of  Menu  and  in  the  Puranas.  A  colourless  deity 
like  Brahma,  who  had  acted  once  as  creator,  was  too  remote 
to  satisfy  the  people  ;  and  two  other  deities,  also  named  in 
the  Vedas,  were  gradually  associated  with  him, — Vishnu, 
the  preserver,  and  Siva  or  Maha-deva  (the  great  god), 
the  destroyer  of  the  universe.  Thus  originated  the 
celebrated  Hindu  Triad  or  Trimurti.  Each  of  its  three 
persons  was  associated  with  a  consort,  to  show  that  male 
and  female  are  indissolubly  united.  The  conception  of 
these  three  gods,  as  creator,  preserver  and  destroyer, 
gives  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  their  complex  character 
and  relations.  Their  unity  is  typified  by  the  three  letters 
composing  the  mystic  syllable,  AUM  or  Om.  They 
1  Sir  M.  Williams,  Hinduism,  pp.  86  and  26. 


86  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

are  coequal,  and  their  functions  are  constantly  inter- 
changeable. Symbols  of  them  are  the  triangle  or  three 
majestic  heads  springing  out  of  one  body.  Kalidasa, 
called  the  Indian  Shakespeare,  because  the  greatest  poet 
that  India  has  produced,  says — 

"  In  those  three  persons  the  one  god  was  shown, 
Each  first  in  place,  each  last — not  one  alone ; 
Of  Siva,  Vishnu,  Brahma,  each  may  be 
First,  second,  third,  among  the  blessed  Three." 

Along  with  this  theological  development  from  Vedism 
into  Brahmanism  came  the  great  social  development  into 
castes,  which  has  ever  since  been  the  framework  of  the 
religion  of  India.  In  the  Vedic  hymns,  two  classes,  the 
royal  or  military  and  the  literary  or  priestly,  are  recognised 
as  above  the  level  of  the  "  Vis  "  or  bulk  of  the  community. 
Eventually,  and  after  long  struggles  between  the  first  two 
classes,  the  three  came  to  be  distinguished  from  each 
other  as  Brahmans,  Ks^atriyas,  and  Vaisyas,  and  all  three 
•till  more  rigidly  from  a  fourth,  the  Sudras,  who  consisted 
chiefly  of  the  conquered  races,  and  who  differed  from 
the  others  in  colour,  habits,  and  language.  In  spite  of 
stringent  regulations  to  the  contrary,  intermarriages  took 
place,  which  produced  different  shades  of  complexion  and 
different  castes,  until  now  there  are  hundreds  of  castes  ; 
but,  whatever  modifications  the  system  has  undergone, 
the  fundamental  distinction  between  twice -born  men 
and  other  men  has  remained.  The  youth  of  the  three 
upper  classes,  after  investiture  with  a  sacred  cord, 
worn  over  the  left  shoulder  and  under  the  right  arm,  and 
initiation  into  the  study  of  the  Veda  with  solemn  sacra- 
mental ceremonial,  are  called  the  twice-born.  The  duty 
of  the  Sudra  is  to  serve  the  twice-born  classes  and,  above 
all,  the  Brahmans,  who  took  precedence,  after  a  time, 
even  of  the  royal  or  military  caste.  They  were  the 
clergy,  in  the  mediaeval  sense  of  the  word,  that  is,  the 
only  educated  class.  They  alone,  therefore,  were  capable 
•){  discharging  priestly  functions.  Having  emanated  from 
•he  mouth  of  Brahma,  they  were  in  closest  relations  to 


HINDUISM  87 


him,  and  were  best  able  to  guide  their  fellows.  They  had 
a  monopoly  of  Vedic  learning,  and  that  included  not  only 
theology  and  philosophy,  but  every  subject  that  required 
investigation.  Reverence  for  the  past  and  the  natural 
instinct  of  traditionalism  made  them  trace  back  every 
branch  of  knowledge  to  the  Veda.  The  position  of  the 
Brahmans  at  length  became  unchallenged.  For  twenty- 
three  centuries,  they  have  been  the  counsellors  of  Hindu 
princes  and  the  teachers  of  the  Hindu  people.  No  class 
of  men  elsewhere  has  held  so  proud  a  position  for  so  long 
a  time,  though  they  are  seen  in  their  old  status  now,  only 
in  holy  cities  like  Benares  or  in  obscure  country  places 
where  railways  and  factories  have  not  yet  penetrated. 

The  advance  that  Brahmanism  indicated  on  Vedism 
was  two-fold, — the  assertion  of  a  first  cause  of  the  universe 
and  a  deepened  consciousness  of  sin.  As  confessions  of 
sin  became  more  frequent,  sacrificial  acts  became  more 
numerous,  and  the  necessity  fcr  propitiatory  sacrifices  was 
felt.  So  great  a  development  took  place  in  this  direction 
that  Brahmanic  literature  has  more  words  relating  to 
sacrifice  than  the  Jewish  or  any  other  literature.  The 
ritual  became  more  burdensome  and  the  divisions  of  caste 
more  rigid.  To  organise  society  accordingly  and  to 
regulate  life,  priestly  directories  were  required.  These 
were  the  Brahmanas.  But,  when  ritual  is  overdone,  there 
is  sure  to  be  a  recoil,  probably  in  more  than  one  direction. 
The  Upanishads,  containing  speculations  on  the  doctrine 
of  the  universally  diffused  essence  and  man's  relation  to 
it,  were  the  first  expression  of  this.  Men  sought  in 
philosophy  for  relief  from  ritual.  The  Upanishads  are 
the  source  of  the  Darsanas  or  the  systems  of  orthodox 
philosophy,  which  give  the  answers  of  Hindu  philosophers 
to  the  fundamental  questions  of  thought  and  life.  In 
all  these  systems  a  great  difference  between  eastern  and 
western  minds  is  at  once  seen.  The  western  mind 
searches  for  truth.  The  eastern,  assuming  that  God  and 
man  are  one  and  that  their  present  apparent  dualism  is 
due  to  ignorance  and  delusion,  searches  for  the  best 
method  of  liberating  the  soul  from  the  bondage  of  material 


88  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

existence  and  even  of  personality,  that  it  may  recognise 
its  oneness  with  God  and  be  reabsorbed  in  Him,  as  a 
stream  is  absorbed  into  the  ocean.  Another  difference 
is  that  Hindu  orthodoxy  is  made  to  consist  not  in  the 
doctrines  that  may  be  taught,  but  in  the  simple  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  divine  authority  of  the  Veda.  That 
tribute  paid  and  caste  accepted,  the  philosopher  is  free  to 
base  his  system  on  pure  reason,  whether  it  leads  him  to 
pantheism  01  atheism,  to  deism  or  polytheism. 

The  common  Brahmanical  creed  asserts  the  following 
positions  ; — the  eternity  of  the  soul ;  the  eternity  of  the 
substance  out  of  which  the  universe  has  been  evolved ; 
the  necessity  of  the  soul  being  united  to  a  body  before 
there  can  be  consciousness,  will  or  action  ;  the  worthless- 
ness  of  the  body  ;  a  place  of  reward  or  punishment  where 
a  working  out  of  the  consequences  of  acts  takes  place, 
which,  however,  is  not  final ;  and  the  transmigration  of 
the  soul  through  an  innumerable  succession  of  bodies. 
Speculation  on  these  points  led  to  unrestrained  free- 
thinking,  but  the  utmost  liberty  of  thought  has  ever 
been  a  matter  of  tradition  with  the  Brahmans.  They 
instinctively  feel  that  they  represent  intelligence. 

II.  THE  DHARMA-S'ASTRAS  OR  SACRED  LAW 
BOOKS.  —Philosophy  had  to  be  kept  within  orthodox 
lines  for  the  sake  of  society.  The  Brahmans  therefore 
composed  Law  Books  or  Dharma-S'astras,  containing 
precise  rules  for  the  constitution  of  society,  for  the 
due  co-ordination  of  the  different  castes,  and  for  the 
regulation  of  everyday  life.  The  most  celebrated  of 
these  codes  is  that  which  bears  the  name  of  M6nu,  who 
was  declared  to  be  the  son  of  Brahma.  In  the  first 
chapter  of  his  Institutes,  the  divine  sages  or  rishis  are 
represented  as  asking  Menu,  as  he  sat  meditating  on  the 
supreme  God,  to  teach  them  the  sacred  laws  : — 

"  He,  the  secondary  framer  of  all  this  visible  world, 
having  narrated  the  mode  of  creation,  appoints  Bhrigu  to 
promulgate  to  them  the  code  of  laws,  which  he — having 
received  in  the  beginning  from  the  Supreme — had  taught 


HINDUISM  89 


to  Bhrigu  and  nine  other  sages.  The  basis  of  society  is 
given  as  follows,  in  the  chapter  on  Creation  : — '  (28) 
In  whatever  occupation  the  Supreme  Lord  first  employed 
any  vital  soul,  to  that  occupation  the  same  soul  attaches 
itself  spontaneously,  when  it  receives  a  new  body,  again 
and  again.  (29)  Whatever  quality,  noxious  or  innocent, 
harsh  or  mild,  unjust  or  just,  false  or  true,  He  con- 
ferred on  any  being,  at  its  creation,  the  same  quality 
enters  it  of  course  on  its  future  births  !  (31)  That  the 
human  race  might  be  multiplied,  he  caused  the  Brahmans, 
the  Kshatriyas,  the  Vaisyas,  and  the  Sudras  to  proceed 
from  his  mouth,  his  arm,  his  thigh,  and  his  foot.'" 

The  development  of  Vedism  into  fully  organised  and 
subsequently  reorganised  Brahmanism  extends  from  about 
800  B.C.  to  1200  A.D. 

The  extravagant  sacerdotalism,  the  social  prohibitions, 
and  other  abuses  or  excesses  of  Brahmanism,  along  with 
the  fact  that  there  were  opposite  tendencies  in  the  Hindu 
mind,  produced  Buddhism  in  the  sixth  century  before 
Christ.  It  is  difficult  to  trace  the  actual  relations 
which  existed  between  the  two  systems  during  the 
succeeding  centuries,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
success  of  Buddhism  was  so  great  that  it  threatened  to 
sweep  away  the  religious  and  social  system  of  Brahmanism. 
Buddhism  was  the  natural  expression  of  the  Brahman's 
craving  after  the  attainment  of  perfect  knowledge.  It 
was  at  first  simply  a  reconstruction  and  remodelling  of 
Brahmanism,  on  what  Gautama  believed  to  be  true  lines. 
In  some  respects  his  teaching  indicated  a  descent  from 
Brahmanism.  In  other  respects  it  was  an  advance  by 
reaction,  but  the  fact  that,  after  a  long  contest  between 
the  two,  Brahmanism  re-established  itself  as  the  religion 
of  India,  ought  to  teach  us  that  it  represents  forces  that 
Buddhism  ignored. 

In  the  contest  with  Buddhism,  Brahmanism  became 
modern  Hinduism.  None  of  the  old  gods  could  be  re- 
suscitated as  an  object  for  popular  faith  and  love.  Mere 
ritual,  however  splendid,  and  mere  law,  however  ancient, 
could  not  satisfy  the  heart,  while  speculation  must  always 


90  THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

be  for  the  few.  The  Veda  was  utterly  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  people,  and  the  great  legendary  poems  of  the 
Ramayana  and  the  Maha  -  Bharata,  therefore,  became 
popular  Bibles.  These  epics  celebrated  the  deeds  of 
Rama  and  Krishna,  heroes  of  ancient  history.  The 
religious  instinct,  under  the  pressure  of  the  negations  of 
Buddhism,  formed  these  heroes  into  gods,  and  the 
Brahmans  readily  adapted  their  flexible  pantheistic  creed 
to  the  popular  craving,  by  deifying  them  as  incarnations 
of  Vishnu.  Here,  again,  we  see  how  the  new  faith  finds 
its  germs  in  the  old  and  its  roots  in  history.  The 
influence  of  the  old  epic  poems  on  the  Hindus  is  to  this 
day  extraordinary.  Passages  are  recited  by  travellers  and 
players  at  village  festivals,  and  high  authorities  declare 
that  they  exercise  a  greater  influence  on  the  lives  and 
feelings  of  Hindus  than  the  Bible  exercises  on  the  peoples 
of  Christendom.  The  Maha-Bharata  consists  of  eighteen 
books  and  a  hundred  thousand  metrical  verses  or  distichs, 
It  is  compared  by  Hindu  writers  to  a  deep  and  noble 
forest  abounding  in  delicious  fruits  and  fragrant  flowers, 
and  watered  by  perennial  springs.  The  main  subject  is 
the  history  of  the  race  of  Bharata  and  of  the  bloody 
struggles  of  two  of  its  collateral  branches  for  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  land  ;  and  with  the  old  story,  philosophical 
episodes,  the  production  of  a  later  age,  are  interwoven, 
expounding  the  doctrines  not  only  of  early  but  of  later 
Brahmanism,  especially  the  new  doctrine  of  avatara  or 
incarnation.  The  moral  teaching  differs  but  little  from 
that  of  Buddhism.  In  this  respect  Brahmanism  had  gained 
in  the  course  of  its  struggle  with  Buddhism.  Krishna  is 
the  hero  of  the  poem.  In  the  philosophical  episodes  he 
is  identified  with  the  supreme,  as  one  of  the  incarnations 
of  Vishnu.  "As  such,"  he  says,  "whenever  there  is 
a  relaxation  of  duty  and  increase  of  impiety,  I  then 
reproduce  myself  for  the  protection  of  the  good  and  the 
destruction  of  evil-doers. "  The  Ramayana  treats  similarly 
of  Rama.  The  miracles,  with  the  performance  of  which 
both  Krishna  and  Rama  are  credited,  are  of  a  monstrous, 
fantastic  and  impossible  kind,  showing  what  the  popular 


HINDUISM  91 


Hindu  taste  is,  and  also  educating  that  taste  still  farther 
in  the  same  direction. 

When  Brahmanism  thus  sought  to  popularise  itself  by 
means  of  the  doctrine  of  incarnation,  it  entered  on  a 
path  where  descent  was  easy  and  rapid.  Religion  passed 
from  the  region  of  thought  to  the  region  of  fable,  in  spite 
of  the  protests  of  successive  reformers  and  the  efforts  of 
philosophers. 

The  new  Brahmanism  was  partly  the  outcome  of 
religious  expediency,  to  head  off  the  Buddhist  reaction 
by  attracting  the  aboriginal  masses,  who  formed  the  bulk 
of  the  people  and  who  could  not  rise  above  coarse 
Idolatries  ;  but  it  was  also  a  genuine  evolution  of  the 
Aryan  mind,  which  is  penetrated  with  the  conviction  that 
there  is  sympathy  and  intercourse  between  God  and  man. 
May  not  the  great  Preserver  descend  from  the  undisturbed 
region,  to  create  again  what  has  perished  ?  The  restora- 
tions which  had  succeeded  destructions  surely  indicated 
that.  These,  it  was  said,  must  have  been  the  times  of 
Vishnu's  descent,  and  if  he  descended  in  former  ages  in 
lower  forms,  why  not  also  as  a  man  ?  So,  Krishna,  the 
centre  of  innumerable  legends,  became  deified.  At  each 
step  in  this  process  it  was  easy  to  add  new  myths  and 
legends  from  nature  and  history.  New  speculations  were 
woven  into  the  theology,  to  connect  its  popular  outgrowths 
with  the  original  root.  Idolatry  became  universal,  but 
the  primary  idea  of  an  inconceivable  intelligence,  whom 
it  is  the  highest  glory  of  the  holiest  man  to  behold,  sur- 
vived. The  success  and  the  wide  acceptance  of  this 
latest  form  of  Brahmanism  is  a  striking  testimony  to  the 
necessity  of  the  central  truth  of  Christianity.  This  truth 
— the  incarnation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — although 
implicit  in  the  revelation  that  man  was  made  in  the  image 
of  God,  and  although  the  previous  history  of  Israel  had 
been  a  preparation  for  it,  was  quite  beyond  the  horizon  of 
the  Jewish  people.  They  had  been  trained  for  centuries 
as  pure  monotheists.  Had  the  truth  not  been  given  to 
them  as  an  actual  revelation,  and  presented  to  them,  too, 
not  in  words  but  in  the  life  of  an  actual  person,  it  would 


99  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

never  have  been  evolved  by  them.  As  it  was,  the  fact 
was  so  alien  to  popular  preconceptions  that  the  apostles 
could  not  grasp  it  for  years,  and  the  early  Jewish  church 
lapsed  gradually  into  an  Unitarianism,  which  regarded 
Jesus  as  a  mere  man.  Mohammed,  too,  as  a  Semite, 
always  recoiled  from  the  idea  that  a  man  could  be  God 
incarnate  as  outrageous  blasphemy.  When  the  root  ide» 
of  a  religion  comes  from  a  soil  in  which  there  was  nothing 
that  could  naturally  produce  it,  we  are  entitled  to  ex- 
plain it  as  a  special  revelation.1  It  is  otherwise  with 
the  idea  of  incarnation  in  Hinduism.  The  soil  there  was 
suited  to  it,  and  we  can  trace  the  growth  of  the  idea  in 
the  history  of  the  people.  The  Jewish  mind  would  never 
have  deified  Samson,  David,  or  Judas  Maccabseus. 
Whereas,  the  Hindu  mind  has  no  difficulty  in  believing 
that  Vishnu  became  incarnate,  as  a  fish,  a  tortoise,  or  a 
boar  ;  or  as  Rama  Chandra,  type  of  manly  virtues ;  or 
as  Krishna,  type  of  a  soldier's  life  in  its  licentiousness  as 
well  as  courage. 

III.  THE  BHAKTI-S'ASTRAS,  OR  SACRED  BOOKS 
TREATING  OF  FAITH. — The  four  Vedas  represent  the 
first  phase  of  the  religion  of  India,  and  contain  the 
germs  of  ail  future  developments.  The  Brahmanas  and 
Upanishads,  with  the  philosophical  systems  and  the 
Law  Books,  represent  the  second  phase,  and  extend 
over  the  period  when  Brahmanism  was  fully  developed 
and  existed  side  by  side  with  Buddhism.  The  great 
epics,  revised  by  the  Brahmans  from  a  theological  point 
of  view,  represent  the  next  phase,  when  the  doctrine  of 
Incarnation  became  prominent.  The  eighteen  Puranas, 
written  subsequently,  and  the  Tantras — a  later  develop- 
ment of  the  Puranas,  intended  to  give  prominence  to  the 
worship  of  the  female  energy  of  some  god,  especially 
the  wife  of  Siva  in  one  of  her  many  forms — represent  the 
modern,  and  sectarian  phase  of  this  astonishingly  luxuriant 
religion. 

1  Marcus    Dods,    D.D..    Mohammed,    Buddha,   and    Chritt 
Pp.  200-202. 


HINDUISM  93 


"  The  invariable  form  of  the  Purana  is  that  of  a 
dialogue,  in  which  a  person  relates  its  contents  in  reply 
to  the  inquiries  of  another." l  They  are  all  based  on  the 
two  great  epic  poems,  the  Maha-Bharata  being  the  chief 
fountain,  for,  say  the  Hindus,  "  there  is  no  legend 
current  in  the  world  that  has  not  its  origin  in  the  Maha- 
Bharata."  So  important  is  the  place  which  they  now 
occupy  in  religious  life,  that  Hindus  speak  of  them 
as  the  fifth  Veda.  That  term,  however,  should  not  be 
allowed  them  without  protest.  They  are  insufferably 
lengthy  and  wearisome,  and  the  Tantras  are  often 
grossly  immoral.  The  aggregate  number  of  verses  in 
the  Puranas  is  400,000,  and  these  are  said  to  be  an 
abridgement  from  millions.  They  repeat,  expand,  and 
variously  systematise  the  cosmogony,  mythology,  and 
other  fables  and  traditions  of  the  epics.  But,  while  the 
tone  of  the  ancient  legends  is  grave  and  often  majestic, 
and  the  thought  of  the  philosophical  episodes  subtle  and 
profound,  the  tone  of  the  later  works  is  generally  puerile 
and  sometimes  indecent.  The  sole  objects  of  worship  in 
the  Puranas  are  Vishnu  and  Siva,  the  former  represent- 
ing the  principle  of  free  grace  and  the  latter  the  principle 
of  human  merit.  The  fundamental  thought  is  always 
pantheistic,  "though  the  particular  deity,  who  w  all  things, 
from  whom  all  things  proceed,  and  to  whom  all  things 
return,  is  different  according  to  individual  sectarian  bias." 
The  Vaishnavas,  or  worshippers  of  Vishnu,  take  as  their 
special  Bible  the  Vishnu  Purana,  it  being  full  of  extra- 
vagances in  praise  of  faith  in  Vishnu.  The  Saivas  take 
the  Bhagavata  Purana  as  their  Bible,  and  from  it  preach 
salvation  by  works  and  faith  in  Durga.  The  Vaishnava  and 
Saiva  sects  represent  almost  all  the  present  religious 
thought  and  life  of  Hinduism,  and  they  reveal  it  in  a  con- 
dition of  decay.  India  is  evidently  awaiting  a  new  birth. 
Professor  Wilson,  speaking  of  the  actual  constitution  of 
Indian  society,  says  that  "  devotional  ceremonies,  pil- 
grimage, penance,  and  abstract  contemplation  have  an 
undue  preponderance  in  the  estimation  of  the  people, 
urana,  translated  by  H.  H.  Wilson,  pp.  10,  it. 


>4  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

«ven  the  best  informed  among  them,  over  active  duties 
and  the  precepts  of  morality.  As  to  the  common  people, 
they  have  a  still  lower  scale,  and  they  find  a  ready  sub- 
stitute for  the  inconvenience  of  all  moral  restraint  in  the 
fervour  of  that  faith  which  they  place  in  Vishnu,  and  the 
unwearied  perseverance  with  which  they  train  a  paj  «ot  or 
a  starling  to  repeat  his  names,  to  articulate  Krishna- 
Radha,  or  Slta-Ram."  Sir  Monier  Williams  believes 
that  "  the  worship  of  Vishnu  continues  to  this  day  the 
great  conservative  element  of  Hinduism " ;  but  he  also 
says  :  "  I  verily  believe  that  the  religion  of  the  most  of 
the  Hindus  is  simple  demonolatry.  Men  and  women  of 
all  classes,  except  perhaps  those  educated  by  ourselves, 
are  perpetually  penetrated  with  the  idea  that  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave  they  are  being  pursued  and  perse- 
cuted not  only  by  destructive  demons  but  by  simple, 
mischievous  imps  and  spiteful  goblins.  This,  in  my 
opinion,  is  the  true  explanation  of  the  universal  w6rship 
of  Ganesa,  lord  of  the  demon  hosts." 

I  have  sketched  the  development  of  the  religion 
of  India  and  of  the  successive  books  in  which  its 
religious  life  found  expression.  Such  a  sketch,  how- 
ever, gives  only  an  external  view.  If  we  could  see 
beneath  the  surface  we  should  find,  all  down  the 
stream  of  Indian  history,  holy  wise,  and  -Diritually- 
minded  men,  poets  and  philosophers,  priests,  reformers 
and  devotees;  but — it  must  also  be  admitted— -no 
man  who  can  be  held  up  to  all  the  world  for  all 
time  as  its  teacher,  example,  and  Saviour, — as  mediator 
with  God  and  the  true  life  of  man  ;  not  one  who  cries 
with  authority  to  all  races,  "  Follow  me "  ;  not  one 
whom  we  could  follow.  We  find  writings  for  which 
inspiration  is  claimed,  more  absolute  than  that  claimed 
by  the  Swiss  scholastics  of  the  eighteenth  century  for 
the  Bible,  writings  that  vastly  exceed  our  Scriptures  in 
volume  ;  but  they  are  discordant  in  their  teaching,  instead 
of  converging  towards  one  central  truth  and  person,  and 
witnessing  to  One  who  gathers  in  Himself  every  ordinance 
and  prophecy.  We  find  miracles,  but  they  are  divorced 


HINDUISM  95 


from  the  moral  order  and  history  of  the  world.  Neither 
the  pure  crystal  of  personal  character  nor  ~reat  facts  of 
history  are  pledged  to  them.  They  are  now  laughed 
at  by  every  educated  Hindu. 

Hinduism  may  be  regarded  as  a  reservoir  into  which 
have  run  all  the  varied  religious  ideas  which  the  mind  of 
man  is  capable  of  elaborating.  How  true  this  is  we 
shall  not  fully  see  until  we  have  sketched  Buddhism, 
for  it  too  is  a  product  of  India.  But,  in  the  meantime, 
let  us  do  justice  to  Hinduism.  It  expresses  beautiful 
thoughts  concerning  the  supremacy  of  Intelligence  ;  the 
immortal  nature  of  the  soul ;  the  right  attitude  of  man  to 
the  Supreme  ;  the  importance  of  meditation,  prayer,  and 
sacrifice ;  the  necessity  of  incarnation  and  propitiation,  and 
of  self-surrender,  faith,  and  good  works.  It  gave,  in  almost 
every  epoch  of  its  history,  profound  teaching  concerning 
man's  natural  sinfulness  and  weakness,  the  littleness  of 
earth  and  time,  and  the  grandeur  of  spiritual  perfection. 
It  spoke  comforting  words  concerning  the  goodness  of 
the  Supreme,  his  sympathy  with  us  and  his  interposition 
on  our  behalf.  Promises  were  made  of  a  better  age  to 
come  which,  no  doubt,  cheered  many  a  heart  crushed  with 
the  load  or  torn  with  the  contradictions  of  life.  Notwith- 
standing, the  people  of  India  found  not  the  true  God ; 
and  so  while  the  hopeful  promise  of  their  early  religion 
has  ended  in  a  jungle  of  debasing  idolatry,  their  later 
national  history  presents  a  picture  of  corresponding 
degradation.  When  the  Mohammedan  invaders  entered 
India,  Hinduism  could  not  stand  before  them.  But, 
though  Mohammedanism  triumphed,  it  did  not  meet  the 
spiritual  necessities  which  had  tried  to  express  themselves 
in  the  religion  of  India.  Whether  Christianity  can  do  so 
depends  upon  whether  its  interpreters  can  give  to  the 
people  what  they  have  been  groping  after  for  centuries. 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF   THE    WORLD 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOUECBS  OF  THE  STRENGTH  AND  WEAKNESS  OF 

HINDUISM 

The  institution  of  caste — Grounded  in  race  necessities  and 
religious  duty  —  Social  condition  that  resulted  from 
it — Testimony  of  the  first  Greek  observers — Supremacy 
of  the  Brahman  a  benefit  to  society  for  cen tunes — 
Caste  now  meaningless  and  hurtful — Attitude  to  it 
of  Hindu  reformers — Need  of  substituting  something 
positive  in  its  place — That  supplied  by  Christianity — 
A  native  church  essential — Hindu  conception  of  God 
profound  but  one-sided  —  Conception  of  man  also 
inadequate — Persistence  of  Hindu  thought  with  regard 
to  God  and  man — Pantheism  the  great  strength  and 
weakness  of  Hinduism — Its  doctrine  of  incarnation  an 
illustration  of  this — Our  duty  to  the  people  of  India. 

\ ^7"HAT  are  the  sources  of  the  strength  and  weakness 
•  •       of  the  religion  of  India  ? 

I.  The  institution  of  caste,  with  the  Brahman  as 
supreme.  This,  more  than  anything  else,  has  compacted 
the  structure  that  has  endured  for  ages.  Caste  seems  to  us 
essentially  anti -national  and  anti-social,  but  it  originated 
in  religious  and  still  more  in  race  necessities.  This 
is  its  vindication  and  the  explanation  of  its  astonishing 
permanence.  The  Aryan  invaders,  on  establishing  them- 
selves in  the  land,  saw  that  they  were  few  in  number 
compared  to  the  subject  races,  and  that  if  they  were  to 
preserve  their  higher  civilisation  and  religion  they  must 
guard  the  purity  of  their  blood,  as  jealously  as  the  Jews 
after  Ezra's  day  guarded  themselves  by  means  of  the  law 


STRENGTH  &•    WEAKNESS  OF  HINDUISM   97 

of  Moses  from  the  filthiness  of  the  surrounding  heathen, 
or  as  the  Dutch  boers  in  South  Africa  in  our  own  time 
have  kept  aloof  from  the  Hottentots,  Bushmen,  and 
Kaffirs,  regarding  them  as  Canaanites  and  themselves  as 
God's  people.  The  Brahmans  valued  the  inheritance  of 
their  fathers  too  much  to  imperil  it  lightly.  The  result 
was  a  social  condition  which  excited  the  admiration  of  the 
Greek  observers,  who,  twenty -two  centuries  ago,  first 
gave  to  Europe  pictures  of  life  in  India.  Megasthenes, 
who  was  resident  ambassador  at  a  court  in  Bengal,  tells  us 
that  the  women  were  chaste  and  the  men  courageous 
above  all  other  Asiatics  ;  that  they  required  no  locks 
to  their  doors,  and  that  no  one  was  ever  known  to  tell 
a  lie.  The  outstanding  characteristic  of  society  was  the 
existence  of  a  set  of  men  whose  great  business  was 
contemplation,  and  who  submitted  to  astonishing  priva- 
tions and  austerities  that  they  might  meditate  or  think 
more  effectually.  These  men  the  Greek  observers  called 
sophists  or  the  wise,  because  their  first  business  was 
study.  They  were  the  Brahmans,  for  we  must  remember 
that  the  Brahman  was  never  merely  a  priest.  Brahma 
is  the  absolute  Intelligence,  and  the  sage  aspired  to  be 
one  with  him.  The  Brahman  believed  that  there  is  in 
man,  but  not  in  all  men,  a  capacity  for  beholding  the 
Unseen  Being.  The  sons  of  God,  therefore,  must  not 
ally  themselves  with  the  daughters  of  men.  Elect  souls 
must  keep  themselves  pure  and  be  trained  by  perpetual 
meditation  on  Brahma.  For  this  purpose  their  laws 
or  institutes  were  designed.  The  idea  of  a  separation 
between  the  twice-born  man  and  the  merely  animal  man 
is  fundamental.  The  twice-born  man  must,  by  study  of 
the  Veda,  by  duly  observing  rites  and  sacrifices,  and  by 
mortifying  the  affections  and  lusts  of  the  flesh,  learn  to 
practise  abstraction  of  spirit  and  maintain  his  relation 
to  the  unseen  Brahma.  Thus  he  may  hope  to  arrive  at 
the  perception  of  the  perfect  one  and  obtain  deliver- 
ance from  personal  existence.  All  this  was  for  the  sake 
of  others  as  well  as  for  his  own  sake.  Not  only  is  his 
intelligence  the  expression  of  the  Divine  Being,  but  be 


98  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

is  the  mediator  between  Brahma  and  the  rest  of  ths 
universe. 

We  are  sometimes  disposed  to  think  that  the  Brahman* 
deliberately  adopted  caste  and  surrounded  it  with  an 
intricate  and  elaborate  system  of  defence,  for  their  own 
glory  or  profit,  or  that  they  themselves  might  lead 
lives  of  pleasure  at  the  expense  of  their  fellow-men. 
That  is  not  the  way  in  which  anything  that  has  life 
comes  into  being,  nor  is  it  the  rock  on  which  anything 
permanent  is  ever  built.  That  which  lasts  must  have 
its  roots  in  the  nature  of  things  and  not  in  the  selfishness 
of  an  individual  or  a  class.  The  stern  theory  of  duties 
which  the  Brahmans  worked  out,  the  faithfulness  with 
which  they  observed  them,  and  the  reverence  which  they 
received  for  centuries  from  all  classes  are  the  best  proofs 
that  they  were  actuated,  not  by  love  of  ease,  but  by  a 
high  sense  of  obligation.  Even  now,  when  the  day  of 
their  power  is  drawing  to  its  close,  they  bear,  in  their 
fine  features,  high  foreheads  and  dignified  carriage,  the 
manifest  imprints  stamped  on  them  by  a  noble  past. 
They  were  the  ordained  high  priests  of  Intelligence. 
Their  discipline  was  intended  to  prevent  their  being  de- 
based by  mixture  with  people  in  whom  the  lower  nature 
predominated.  This  was  the  aim  of  the  institution,  and 
the  aim  of  the  code  of  Menu  and  other  inspired  law- 
givers. Caste  had  to  be  declared  eternal,  something 
that  had  its  foundations  in  the  Creator,  something, 
therefore,  that  could  never  be  changed. 

This,  along  with  racial  pride  or  necessity,  was  at  the 
basis  of  the  distinction  between  twice-born  men  and 
sudras,  and  even  between  the  Brahman  and  inferior  castes. 
It  is  impossible  to  deny  the  grandeur  of  the  aim ;  but, 
as  it  was  based  on  only  partial  truth,  it  had  only  a  partial 
success.  Like  every  other  noblesse,  the  Brahmans  had 
virtues  of  their  own,  and  they  performed  incalculable 
service  to  the  people  of  India ;  but  the  distinction 
between  spiritual  and  animal  men  cannot  be  main- 
tained along  the  lines  of  natural  descent,  no  matter  how 
urgent  the  necessity  or  how  severe  the  training  or  bow 


STRENGTH  &•  WEAKNESS  OF  HINDUISM   99 

overwhelming  the  advantages  of  the  favoured  caste. 
Things  turned  out  as  might  have  been  expected.  The 
Brahman  became  his  own  god,  and  from  believing  that 
he  was  the  perfection  of  humanity  there  arose  in  him 
contempt  for  others,  haughty  disregard  of  their  rights, 
and  practical  denial  of  human  brotherhood.  Then 
came  the  mighty  reaction  of  Buddhism.  Brahmanism 
reasserted  itself,  after  centuries  of  oscillation,  but  the 
institution  which  had  been  useful  as  the  natural  out- 
growth of  one  condition  of  society  could  only  be  injurious 
when  artificially  imposed  upon  another  out  of  deference 
to  traditional  theology  or  social  preconceptions.  Caste, 
deprived  of  its  old  life,  became  the  curse  of  India. 
It  destroyed  national  unity  and  so  made  successful 
resistance  to  invasion  impossible.  All  that  is  generous 
in  the  young  life  of  the  people  is  now  arrayed  against 
it,  as  a  dogma  that  must  be  discarded  and  a  system 
that  must  be  abolished,  if  India  is  to  rise  again 
to  its  former  glory.  Here  is  the  testimony  of  B.  B. 
Nagarkar  of  Bombay,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  theistic 
movement  known  as  the  Brahmo-Somaj  : — "  In  western 
countries  the  lines  of  social  division  are  parallel  but 
horizontal,  and,  therefore,  range  in  the  social  strata  one 
above  another.  In  India  these  lines  are  perpendicular, 
and,  therefore,  run  from  top  to  bottom  of  the  body 
social,  dividing  and  separating  one  social  stratum  from 
every  other.  The  former  arrangement  is  a  source  of 
strength  and  support,  and  the  latter  a  source  of  alienation 
and  weakness.  Perhaps  at  one  time  in  the  history  of 
India,  when  the  condition  of  things  was  entirely  different, 
and  when  the  number  of  these  castes  was  not  so  large, 
or  their  nature  so  rigid  as  now,  the  institution  of  caste 
did  serve  a  high  purpose  ;  but  it  is  long,  too  long,  since 
that  social  condition  underwent  a  change.  .  .  .  Caste  in 
India  has  divided  the  mass  of  Hindu  society  into  innumer- 
able classes  and  cliques.  It  has  created  a  spirit  of  extreme 
exclusiveness ;  it  has  crowded  and  killed  legitimate  ambi- 
tion, healthy  enterprise  and  combined  adventure.  It  has 
fostered  envy  and  jealousy  between  class  and  class,  and  set 


ioo         THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

one  community  against  another.  .  .  .  Therefore,  the  first 
item  on  the  programme  of  social  reform  in  India  is  the 
abolition  of  caste  and  the  furtherance  of  free  and  brotherly 
intercourse  between  class  and  class,  as  also  between 
individual  and  individual,  irrespective  of  the  accident  of 
his  birth  and  parentage,  and  mainly  on  the  recognition 
of  his  moral  worth  and  goodness  of  heart."  There  are 
differences  of  opinion  regarding  the  resisting  power  that 
still  exists  in  Brahmanism  and  the  extent  to  which  the 
Brahmo-Somaj  expresses  the  higher  life  of  modem  India 
or  is  likely  to  be  a  factor  in  its  future,  but  men  like 
Rammohun  Roy,  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  P.  C.  Mozoomdar 
and  his  co-workers  show,  at  any  rate,  movement  in  a 
hopeful  direction. 

But  caste  can  be  abolished  only  when  something 
equally  positive  and  more  in  accordance  with  the  truth 
of  things  is  prepared  to  take  its  place.  The  fundamental 
truths  on  which  it  stood,  viz.  the  divine  right  of  the 
spiritual  man  to  rule  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  his 
keeping  himself  unspotted  from  the  world,  must  be  re- 
cognised in  Hindu  society,  in  forms  suited  to  Hindu  life. 
These  truths  are  imbedded  in  our  Sacred  History,  and 
caste  will  disappear  when  they  become  living  forces  in 
the  Christian  Church  of  India.  Abraham  was  called 
to  be  the  father  of  a  multitude  of  nations.  He  was 
separated  from  home,  kindred,  and  ordinary  ties,  in 
order  that  he  might  do  for  the  world  the  great  work 
of  grace  that  Jehovah  purposed.  His  family  received 
a  sacramental  sign  of  that  separation.  When  the 
people  began  to  mix  with  the  nations  round  about 
them  and  walk  in  their  evil  ways,  they  were  warned  that 
God  required  them  to  be  a  peculiar  people.  Accord- 
ingly, they  were  separated  from  their  neighbours  as  well 
as  from  all  moral  evil,  by  rigid  law.  This  condition  of 
things  has  come  to  an  end,  but  the  truth  that  it  was 
intended  to  teach  is  stated  still  more  emphatically  in  the 
New  Testament. — "That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is 
flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  spirit  is  spirit." 
•'  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 


STRENGTH  &•  WEAKNESS  OF  HINDUISM   101 

kingdom  of  God."  Christians  are  called  to  be  a  royal 
priesthood  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,  a  chosen  genera- 
tion, *a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people.  The  Church 
claims  to  be  a  body  of  twice-born  men,  and  to  be  an 
authentic,  continuous,  indestructible  witness  to  the  facts 
that  man  needs  to  be  delivered  from  all  that  is  sinful 
and  that  there  is  deliverance  for  him,  that  man  needs 
communion  with  "God  and  that  life  with  God  is  his 
inheritance.  Christianity  then  fulfils  the  object  aimed 
at  in  the  characteristic  institution  of  Brahmanism,  but 
without  condemning  any  man  or  class  of  men  to 
remain  animal.  The  gospel  despairs  of  none.  The 
call  of  Jesus  is  universal,  but  it  is  a  call  to  holiness. 
Only  as  the  Church  is  filled  with  His  spirit  is  it  His  body 
Humanly  speaking,  the  cause  of  God  on  earth  depends  on 
Christians  being  men  of  Christ-like  character  and  on 
every  country  having  a  church  suited  to  its  history 
and  national  life.  This  is  especially  true  of  India, 
for  nowhere  else  is  there  a  more  religious  people. 
Christianity  will  be  judged  there  by  the  conformity  of 
Christians  to  the  highest  standard,  and  by  its  power  to 
establish  an  independent  church  instead  of  pale  re- 
flexions of  Romanism  or  of  any  Protestant  denomination. 
Such  a  church  must  take  root  in  the  soil,  instead  of 
leaning  upon  foreign  support  for  its  creeds,  formularies, 
or  funds.  Unless  there  is  such  a  church,  caste  is  likely 
to  remain  for  many  a  day.  Its  sudden  abolition  or  even 
its  gradual  decay,  without  any  framework  for  society  to 
take  its  place,  would  be  attended  with  the  gravest 
dangers. 

2.   The  teaching  regarding  God  and  man. 

Hinduism  is  pantheistic.  We  find  a  conception  of  God 
and  of  man's  relation  to  Him  fundamentally  the  same, 
from  first  to  last,  under  every  possible  form  of  statement, 
in  the  Veda,  in  the  philosophical  systems,  in  the  law 
books,  in  the  lyric  poets,  in  the  dramatists,  in  the  epics, 
and  in  the  Puranas  and  Tantras  alike.  That  nothing 
exists  absolutely  but  Brahma;  "that  everything,  from 
the  lowest  estate  of  a  straw  to  the  highest  estate  of  a  God 


loa         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

is  Brahma  "  ;  that  the  human  soul  is  an  emanation  from 
it ;  that  in  order  to  get  into  the  closest  possible  relation 
with  it,  we  must,  while  here  on  earth,  break  all  connection 
with  objects  of  desire  ;  that  we  "  should  pass  through  life 
without  attachments,  as  a  swimmer  in  the  ocean  strikes 
freely  without  the  impediment  of  clothes  ;  that,  like  a 
reed  torn  from  its  native  banks,  like  wax  separated  from 
its  delicious  honey,  the  soul  of  man  bewails  its  disunion 
with  melancholy  music,  and  sheds  burning  tears  like  the 
lighted  taper,  waiting  passionately  for  the  moment  of  its 
extinction,  as  a  disengagement  from  earthly  trammels  and 
the  means  of  returning  to  its  only  beloved," — these  are 
thoughts  that  are  familiar  to  every  Hindu,  and  no  religion 
that  does  not  recognise  their  power  will  ever  prevail  in 
India.  "  The  religion  of  the  modern  Hindu,  his  char- 
acter, ay,  even  his  mode  of  thought,  is  the  same  now  as 
in  the  time  of  Calidasa,  or  still  more  in  that  of  Vyasa 
and  Valmiki.  If  there  be  any  change  at  all,  it  is  only 
that  of  day  to  night."  * 

To  prove  this,  extracts  from  works  so  different  as 
the  Institutes  of  Menu  and  the  Bhagavad-Gfta  may 
be  given.  Bhrigu,  whom  Menu  appointed  to  pro- 
mulgate to  the  other  divine  sages  the  code  of  lawi 
which  he  had  received  in  the  beginning  from  the  Supreme, 
concludes  the  chapter  on  Transmigration  and  Final  Be- 
atitude as  follows.  "  Thus  did  the  all-wise  Menu  .  .  . 
disclose  to  me  from  his  benevolence  to  mankind  this 
transcendent  system  of  law  which  must  be  kept  devoutly 
concealed  from  persons  unfit  to  receive  it.  Let  every 
Brahman  with  fixed  attention  consider  all  nature  both 
visible  and  invisible  as  existing  in  the  Divine  Spirit ;  for 
then  he  cannot  give  his  heart  to  iniquity.  The  Divine 
Spirit  alone  is  the  whole  assemblage  of  gods  ;  all  worlds 
are  seated  in  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  the  Divine  Spirit 
produces,  no  doubt,  by  a  chain  of  causes  and  effects  con- 
sistent with  free-will,  the  connected  series  of  acts  per- 
formed by  embodied  souls.  A  Spirit  by  whose  energy 
alone  all  else  exists  :  a  Spirit  by  no  means  the  object  of 
1  Tlu  Bkagavad-GUd,  by  J.  Cockburn  Thomson. 


STRENGTH  &   WEAKNESS  OF  HINDUISM  103 

any  sense,  which  can  only  be  conceived  by  a  mind  wholly 
abstracted  from  matter  and  as  it  were  slumbering,  but 
which,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  his  meditation,  he  may 
imagine  more  subtil  than  the  finest  conceivable  essence 
and  more  bright  than  the  purest  gold.  Him  some  adore 
as  transcendently  present  in  elementary  fire  ;  others  in 
Menu,  lord  of  creatures  :  some  as  more  distinctly  present 
in  Indra,  regent  of  the  clouds  and  atmosphere  :  others  in 
pure  air :  others  in  the  most  high  Eternal  Spirit  It  is 
He,  who  pervading  all  beings  in  five  elemental  forms, 
causes  them  by  gradations  of  birth,  growth,  and  dissolu- 
tion, to  revolve  in  this  world,  till  they  deserve  beatitude, 
like  the  wheels  of  a  car.  Thus  the  man  who  perceives 
in  his  own  soul  the  supreme  soul  present  in  all  creatures 
acquires  equanimity  towards  them  all,  and  shall  be  ab- 
sorbed at  last  in  the  highest  essence." 

Again,  in  the  Bhagavad-Gita,  Arjoona  is  represented 
as  shrinking  back  from  battle  with  his  royal  kindred  when 
he  sees  their  well-known  faces  in  the  opposing  lines,  but 
Krishna,  who  has  been  acting  as  his  charioteer,  reveals 
himself  as  Vishnu  and  urges  him  to  slay  them  without 
compunction,  saying  that  in  so  doing  he  will  be  only  an 
instrument,  as  they  are  killed  already  in  the  determina- 
tion of  "  the  All,"  and  as  the  duty  of  caste  is  supreme, 
there  is  nothing  better  for  Kshatrya  than  lawful  war. 
But,  he  continues,  if  thou  wilt  not  join  in  this  fight,  thou 
abandonest  thine  own  duty  and  glory  and  contractest  a 
crime.  And  mankind  will,  moreover,  relate  of  thee  im- 
perishable ignominy.  And  to  a  noble  man  infamy  is 
worse  than  death.  A  brief  extract  from  this  address  will 
suffice  to  show  the  teaching  and  the  tone  of  the  poem  : — 

•'  Thou  moum'st  for  those  thou  should'st  not  mourn,  albeit 

thy  words  are  like  the  wise  ; 
For  those  that  live  or  those  that  die  may  never  mourn  the 

truly  wise. 
Ne'er  was  the  time  when  I  was  not,  nor  these,  nor  yonder 

kings  of  earth  ; 
Hereafter,  ne'er  shall  be  the  time  when  one  of  us  shall  ceasa 

to  be. 


104          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

The  soul  within  this  mortal  frame  glides  on  through  child 
hood,  youth  and  age  : 

Then  in  another  form  renewed,  renews  its  stated  course  again. 

All  indestructible  is  He  that  spread  the  living  universe, 

And  who  is  he  that  shall  destroy  the  work  of  the  indestruct- 
ible? 
.  .  .  Then,  on  to  battle,  Bharata  I  " 

Note  how  the  great  tenets  of  Hinduism  are  here 
enunciated  ;  the  eternity  and  immortality  of  the  soul, 
the  mortality  and  mutability  of  the  body,  the  trans- 
migration of  the  soul,  and  the  existence  of  a  Supreme 
Spirit  to  whom  the  existence  of  the  universe  is  to  be  as- 
cribed, from  which  everything  proceeds,  and  to  which 
everything  returns. 

Undoubtedly  the  Hindu  conception  of  God  ii  very 
profound,  but  it  is  one-sided  and  fatally  defective.  It 
takes  no  account  of  the  personality  of  God,  of  His 
separation  from  man,  His  sovereign  will  and  the  essence 
of  His  character,  as  righteousness,  purity,  and  love. 
In  the  mind  of  the  Hindu,  the  moral  and  the  immoral 
are  both  contained  in  the  Supreme,  and  there  can  there- 
fore be  no  real  distinction  between  the  two.  Similarly, 
the  personality  of  man  is  ignored.  Our  consciousness 
that  we  are  persons,  which  should  be  decisive,  counts 
for  nothing.  We  know  that  every  man,  though  recognis- 
ing his  littleness,  distinguishes  himself  from  the  universe, 
from  his  kind  and  from  God.  Life  is  therefore  the 
great  reality,  and  each  of  us  is  free  to  possess  or  to 
sacrifice  himself.  But  our  life  is  represented  by  Hindu 
thought  as  an  illusion.  It  does  not  consist  in  perpetu- 
ally reaching  out  to  perfection  and  so  realising  our  true 
self,  but  in  the  annihilation  of  will  and  personality,  that 
is,  in  spiritual  suicide. 

The  Bible  teaches  emphatically  that  God  is  Intelli- 
gence. No  language  can  be  more  explicit  than  that  in 
which  the  Wisdom  literature  asserts  that  the  Supreme 
is  Wisdom  and  that  kings  and  judges  rule  by  Wisdom. 
But  it  teaches  the  Transcendence  as  well  as  the  Immanence 
of  God.  1  he  opposite  truths  of  Mohammedanism  and 


STRENGTH  &    WEAKNESS  OP  HINDUISM   105 

Hinduism  are  thereby  united  ;  and  in  the  Incarnation  of 
the  Son  we  learn  that  the  adequate  image  of  God  is  to  be 
found  in  man.  To  that  central  fact  all  the  history  of 
Israel  pointed,  on  it  the  Church  is  based,  and  by  it  the 
true  ideal  is  presented  to  man.  The  Bible  also  teaches 
that  it  is  man's  privilege  to  meditate  on  God  ;  to  reflect 
on  His  wonderful  Word  and  works  ;  to  speculate  on  the 
facts  of  life.  Nowhere  is  this  side  of  duty  made  more 
prominent  than  in  the  Book  of  Psalms.  But  meditation 
must  find  its  fruition  in  rational  activity.  Only  by  such 
activity  is  character  perfected  and  the  best  solution  of 
the  mysteries  of  life  found.  Mere  meditation  tends  to 
indolent  quietism  or  to  dehumanising  asceticism. 

Pantheism  has  been  the  strength  and  weakness  of 
Hinduism.  This  fundamental  principle  has  gradually 
swelled  the  thirty -three  gods  of  the  Vedas  to  three 
hundred  and  thirty  millions.  It  has  enabled  the 
Brahmans  to  adopt  every  god  with  which  they  came 
in  contact,  to  acknowledge  every  idol  and  to  supply  a 
philosophic  basis  for  its  worship.  Each  new  deity,  no 
matter  how  misshapen,  is  simply  another  of  the  innumer- 
able streams  that  lead  to  the  ocean  of  Liberation,  and 
the  old  worshippers  become  Hindus  without  the  necessity 
of  changing  their  religious  forms  or  their  lives.  Buddha, 
too,  has  been  accepted  as  the  ninth  incarnation  of  Vishnu, 
and  there  would  be  no  objection  to  calling  Jesus  the 
tenth.  The  worshippers  of  Krishna,  however,  under 
any  arrangement  of  this  kind  would  continue  to  over- 
shadow all  others,  his  sovereignty  being  maintained,  for 
every  new  generation,  by  repetitions  of  his  incarnation. 
The  acceptance  of  the  immoral  Krishna,  as  the  great 
embodiment  of  the  Supreme,  shows  how  truly  pantheism 
is  the  weakness  and  disgrace  of  Hinduism.  Its  ideal 
is  unmoral.  It  is  independent  of  character  and  practi- 
cally declares  that  virtue  and  vice  are  alike  indifferent 
for  salvation.  Let  us  be  thankful  that  the  best  Hindus 
are  far  superior  to  their  ideal. 

The  people  of  India  are  our  fellow-subjects.  What  a 
summons  u  involved  in  this  fact,  to  all  who  believe 


io6         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

that  history  is  a  revelation  of  the  will  of  God  !  Men  are 
needed  to  go  to  them  in  the  spirit  of  Paul,  who  saved  the 
Church  from  becoming  a  Jewish  sect,  and  who  was  per- 
secuted on  that  very  account.  India  has  been  preparing 
during  this  century  for  Christ.  A  tremendous  revolution, 
social,  political  and  religious,  is  going  on  all  over  the  land. 
The  compact  fabric  of  Hindu  society  which  has  triumphed 
over  the  rude  assaults  of  Mohammedanism  and  the 
missionary  fervour  of  Buddhism,  and  which  has  seemed 
able  to  defy  the  corrosive  influences  of  time  itself,  is 
being  undermined  at  all  points  by  Western  thought,  by 
contact  with  the  agencies  and  instruments  of  Western 
civilisation,  and  by  forces  generated  by  its  own  vigorous 
life.  Just  as  Christianity  triumphed  over  the  religions 
of  Greece  and  Rome  by  absorbing  from  Greek  philosophy 
and  literature  acd  from  Roman  jurisprudence  all  in 
them  which  was  good  and  true,  so  must  it  triumph  in 
India.  That  will  mean  its  triumph,  in  due  time,  in 
other  lands  as  well  as  India ;  for  there  is  no  race 
so  religious  as  the  Hindu,  so  devoted  to  the  ideal,  and 
so  contemptuous  of  the  life  of  sense.  We  know  a 
little,  and  we  should  know  more  of  that  wonderful  epoch 
in  their  history,  when,  after  the  death  of  Gautama, 
missionaries  from  the  highest  classes  in  society  went  forth 
to  all  the  surrounding  lands  and  gathered  in  mighty 
harvests.  So  shall  it  be  again.  Who  shall  venture  to 
say  that  the  vitality  of  this  noble  race  is  exhausted  ? 
God  will  raise  up  a  prophet  to  teach  with  power  that 
in  Christ  all  the  wisdom  and  power  needed  for  the 
regeneration  of  India  are  hid.  He  will  enable  him  to 
give  Christianity  a  form  as  suited  to  the  Eastern  mind 
as  the  decrees  of  the  first  four  General  Councils  were 
suited  to  Europe.  Missionaries  by  the  thousand  will 
then  stream  over  the  Himalayas  and  to  the  remotest 
ocean  to  tell  to  all  Asia  the  good  news  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified,  as  the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power 
of  God  to  every  one  who  believeth.  For  Christianity  alone 
has  elements  to  satisfy  the  deepest  aspirations  of  Hinduism. 
— "  There  is  something  in  Pantheism  so  deep  that  nought 


STRENGTH  &•   WEAKNESS  OF  HINDUISM  107 

in  bare  Deism  can  meet  it  Deism  is  not  so  deep.  And 
Pantheism  may  well  keep  the  house  till  a  stronger  than 
Deism  comes  to  take  possession  of  it.  In  Jesus  Christ 
I  find  the  only  true  solution  of  the  mystery."  These 
words  of  the  late  Dr.  Duncan  {Horae  Peripatcticae) 
explain  why  Mohammedanism,  though  succeeding  in  part, 
actually  consolidated  Hinduism  as  a  whole,  and  why 
Christianity  is  certain  to  prevail,  when  it  is  rightly 
•nderstood. 


Io8          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 


CHAPTER  VII 

BUDDHISM 

Buddhism  a  branch  of  the  religion  of  India — Identi- 
fied with  one  name,  though  now  multiform — The 
sacred  books  of  Buddhism — The  explanation  of  their 
Christian  colouring — Early  life  and  character  of  the 
founder  of  Buddhism — The  Great  Renunciation — His 
attainment  to  Buddhahood — The  four  great  truths 
— Meaning  of  Nirvana  and  of  Karma — The  Middle 
Path — The  ethical  code  of  Buddhism  —  Its  social 
organisation — The  power  of  Gautama's  personality — 
His  missionary  fervour — Spirit  and  zeal  of  his  disciples — 
His  life — Last  words — Death — The  times  then  ripe  in 
India  for  a  democratic  movement — Individualism  and 
rationalism  of  Buddhism — Interactions  of  Buddhism 
and  Brahmanism — Result,  the  decay  of  Buddhism  and 
the  rise  of  modern  Hinduism. 

TDUDDHISM  is  related  to  Brahmanism  somewhat  as 
*-*  Christianity  is  to  Judaism  or  Protestantism  to 
Romanism.  In  all  three  cases  the  branch  has  become 
mightier,  if  not  more  populous,  than  the  parent  stock. 
As  regards  Christianity  and  Buddhism,  in  each  case  a 
universal  religion  has  developed  from  one  strictly  local, 
and  both  are  now  almost  strangers  in  the  lands-  that  gave 
them  birth. 

The  founder  of  Buddhism  lived  and  died  a  Hindu. 
Neither  he  nor  the  Brahmans  of  his  day  thought  that  the 
new  faith  that  he  preached  was  incompatible  with  the 
old.  He  would  have  claimed  that  he  was  a  correct 
exponent  of  the  spirit  of  the  ancient  Vedic  faith.  His 


BUDDHISM  109 


disciples  simply  claimed  that  he  was  the  greatest,  wisest 
and  best  of  the  Hindus.  As  there  were  "Reformers 
before  the  Reformation "  in  Europe,  so  in  India  there 
were  sages  before  Gautama  who  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  Brahmanical  system  ;  but  he  was  the  Hindu  Luther, 
in  whose  voice  all  previous  voices  blended,  and  whose 
personality  fused  into  living  unity  forces  that  had  been 
long  gathering,  and  originated  a  movement  that  swept 
over  India  and  all  but  submerged  for  a  time  the  monu- 
ments, institutions  and  ordinances  of  the  ancient 
religion. 

Buddhism  thus  —  unlike  Hinduism  —  is  identified 
with  the  name  of  one  man,  in  whose  life,  teaching  and 
personality  we  find  its  secret.  It  would,  however,  be  a 
great  mistake  to  fancy  that  a  study  of  the  story  and 
character  of  Gautama  will  throw  much  light  on  modern 
Buddhism.  Originally  a  system  of  Humanitarianism 
— with  no  future  life  and  no  God  higher  than  the 
perfect  man — it  has  become  a  vast  jungle  of  contra- 
dictory principles  and  of  popular  idolatry,  the  mazes 
of  which  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  tread.  "  It 
passes  from  apparent  atheism  and  materialism  to 
theism,  polytheism  and  spiritualism.  It  is  under  one 
aspect  mere  pessimism  ;  under  another  pure  philanthropy  ; 
under  another  monastic  communism  ;  under  another  high 
morality  ;  under  another  a  variety  of  materialistic  philo- 
sophy ;  under  another  simple  demonology  ;  under 
another  a  mere  farrago  of  superstitions,  including 
necromancy,  witchcraft,  idolatry,  and  fetishism." '  But, 
after  all,  the  power  of  any  religion  is  to  be  found  in  its 
ideas  and  in  the  personality  of  its  founder.  Men  will 
return  to  these  as  to  a  living  fountain  which  may  have 
been  choked  for  centuries  with  sand  and  driftwood. 
Clearing  away  the  rubbish,  they  see  again  the  living 
water.  Drinking  of  it,  they  will  rejoice  all  the  more 
when  the  full  river  of  the  water  of  life  —  sufficient  to 
satisfy  the  thirst  of  all  lands — breaks  upon  their  astonished 
rixioo, 

*  Mooier  Williams,  Buddhism,  p.  i> 


no         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

THE  SACRED  BOOKS  OF  BUDDHISM. — A  strong 
Christian  colouring  is  found  in  the  sacred  books  of 
Buddhism  which  at  first  puzzled  scholars.  Some  writers 
explained  this  by  saying  that  Buddhism,  being  the  older, 
must  be  the  parent  religion,  and  that  Jesus  or  the  writers  of 
the  New  Testament  must  have  come  in  contact  with  Bud- 
dhistic ideas  or  legends.  Jesuit  fathers  declared  that  the 
devil,  foreknowing  the  details  of  the  promised  Messiah's 
life,  anticipated  them  by  a  caricature  in  Gautama.  Others 
contended  that  the  Buddhistic  documents  had  gradually 
received  modern  accretions.  This  is  the  true  explanation. 
"A  biography  of  Buddha,"  says  Oldenberg,  "has  not 
come  down  to  us  from  ancient  times,  from  the  age  of  the 
Pali  texts,  and  we  can  safely  say  no  such  biography  was 
in  existence  then."  "  There  is  not,"  says  Dr.  Eitel,  "a 
single  Buddhist  manuscript  in  existence  which  can  vie  in 
antiquity  and  undoubted  authenticity  with  the  oldest 
codices  of  the  Gospels,  and  the  most  ancient  Buddhist 
classics  contain  scarcely  any  details  of  Buddha's  life,  and 
none  whatever  that  are  of  peculiarly  Christian  character." 
In  justice  to  the  Buddhist  scribes,  we  must  remember 
that  their  literary  ideas  and  their  defective  historical  sense 
made  borrowing  appear  to  them  perfectly  legitimate. 
All  that  we  are  concerned  about  is  to  know  that  every 
authority  would  now  agree  with  the  conclusion  of  Kuenen 
— "  I  may  safely  affirm  that  we  must  abstain  from 
assigning  to  Buddhism  the  smallest  direct  influence  on 
the  origin  of  Christianity." l 

HISTORY  OF  THE  FOUNDER  OF  BUDDHISM. — 
Siddharta  was  the  son  of  the  Rajah  of  Kapilavastu 
(now  the  village  of  Bhuila),  a  town  between  the  holy 
city  of  Benares  and  the  Himalaya  mountains.  The 
family  name  was  Gautama  and  the  tribe  was  the  Sakyas. 
Hence,  when  Siddharta  became  an  ascetic  he  was  called 
Sakya-Muni  or  the  monk  of  the  Sakyas.  The  word 
Buddha — from  the  root  Bud,  to  know — is  generic. 

1  Kuenen,  National  Religions  and  Universal  Rtlifient,  p.  »5u 
Sec  also  Note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


BUDDHISM 


When  a  devotee  became  enlightened,  he  was  said  to 
have  attained  to  Buddhahood.  The  name  thus  reveals 
to  us  the  kinship  of  original  Buddhism  to  the  funda- 
mental Brahmanic  principle  of  reverence  for  intelligence. 

By  what  process  did  Siddharta  or  Gautama  become 
enlightened  ? 

Few  facts  about  his  early  life  are  known  with 
certainty,  and  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  these  from  the 
legends  that  the  enthusiasm  of  his  followers  wove  round 
them.  But,  after  making  all  allowances  for  accretions, 
the  picture  remains  of  an  extraordinary  man,  the 
memory  of  whose  life,  thirst  for  truth,  and  love  for 
humanity  ought  to  be  honoured  to  the  latest  generations. 
"  Except  Christ  alone,  there  is  not,  among  the  founders 
of  religions,  a  figure  purer  or  more  touching  than  that 
of  Buddha.  His  constant  heroism  equals  his  conviction  ; 
he  is  a  finished  model  of  all  the  virtues  that  he  preaches  ; 
his  self-denial,  his  charity,  his  unalterable  sweetness, 
seem  not  to  fail  for  a  moment."1  His  disciples  imi- 
tated him  and  propagated  the  faith  with  an  enthusiasm, 
self-abnegation  and  success,  which  the  history  of  Christen- 
dom cannot  surpass  ;  and  his  religion  is  the  only  one  of 
the  universal  religions  that  never  sought  to  propagate  itself 
by  force  or  persecution,  even  when  it  had  the  power. 

In  India,  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ,  the  son  of 
a  king,  even  though  the  king  was  only  the  Rajah  of  a 
petty  state  or  a  zemindar,  had  all  the  world  at  his  feet. 
Gautama  was  married,  at  the  early  age  dictated  by 
custom,  to  the  daughter  of  a  neighbouring  Rajah,  and 
the  union  was  one  of  affection.  He  was  distinguished 
for  bodily  vigour,  intellectual  power  and  purity  of 
heart  and  life.  What  was  lacking  ?  "  The  divine 
unrest "  of  noble  souls  possessed  him.  That  could  not 
be  charmed  away  by  power  and  splendour,  by  the 
influences  of  home  or  the  duties  of  his  station.  Even 
the  birth  of  a  son,  after  he  had  been  married  ten  years, 
did  not  fill  his  heart  The  idea  that  the  new  tie  might 
become  a  bond  too  strong  to  break,  Kerns,  on  the 

1  Barth&emy  St.  Hilaire. 


ria          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

contrary,  to  have  decided  him  to  leave  all  and  follow 
the  promptings  of  his  higher  nature,  though  he  should 
go  out  "  not  knowing  whither  he  went."  Every  picture 
of  old  age,  of  disease,  or  of  death,  made  him  ask 
the  question — What  is  the  meaning  of  this  apparently 
endless,  transitory,  suffering  life  ?  The  only  person  who 
seemed  to  him  superior  to  the  influences  of  time  and  the 
body  was  the  ascetic,  the  man  without  ties  and  relation- 
ships, living  in  and  for  the  spiritual,  preserving  his 
dignity  even  when  holding  out  a  mendicant's  bowl  for 
rice.  We  must  remember  that  Orientals,  Hindus 
especially,  are  prone  to  take  a  pessimistic  rather  than  our 
optimistic  view  of  life.  In  India,  too,  the  universally 
accepted  belief  in  transmigration  produces  in  the  thought- 
ful a  positive  loathing  of  existence.  This  added,  in  the 
mind  of  Gautama,  to  "  the  weary  weight  of  all  this 
unintelligible  world."  Surely  there  must  be  some 
explanation  of  the  secret  of  life.  If  only  that  could  be 
learned,  what,  compared  to  it,  were  all  other  wisdom  ! 
Convinced  that  the  one  thing  needful  was  to  find  out 
this  secret,  he — at  the  age  of  twenty-nine — tore  himself 
away  from  wealth,  power,  home,  parents,  wife  and 
child,  making  what  Buddhists  call  "the  Great  Renunci- 
ition."  Exchanging  garments  with  a  beggar,  he  betook 
himself  as  a  penniless  student  to  one  celebrated  teacher 
»nd  then  to  another,  whom  he  found  in  secluded  forests, 
md  from  them  learned  all  that  Brahmanism  could  teach, 
from  the  inspired  oracles  of  the  Veda,  or  their  own 
speculations,  concerning  the  way  of  emancipation  and 
anion  with  the  universal  soul.  Unsatisfied  with  their 
teaching,  he  betook  himself  to  the  jungles,  accompanied 
by  five  disciples,  resolved  to  test  the  principle  of 
orthodox  Brahmanism,  according  to  which  the  soul  can 
become  independent  of  the  body  and  obtain  superhuman 
power,  and  finally  salvation,  through  asceticism.  By 
that  means  and  by  constantly  murmuring  the  mystic 
syllable  6m,  with  mind  concentred  on  Brahma,  of  whom 
all  worlds  are  "the  outer  fringes,"  the  devotee  becomes 
prepared  for  union  with  the  supreme.  He  gradually 


BUDDHISM  113 


becomes  possessed  of  supernatural  powers.  His  mind 
becomes  clairvoyant.  Material  forms  seem  to  him  as 
bubbles  on  the  surface  of  a  sea  of  ether.  Finally,  the 
process  of  thinking  is  suppressed.  Personality  is  lost, 
and  the  soul,  escaping  from  its  confines  in  the  finite, 
merges  into  the  innermost  soul,  to  throb  for  ever  in  the 
sunny  ocean  of  divine  existence.  For  six  years,  Gautama 
tried — as  few  ascetics  eren  in  India  have  ever  tried — to 
obtain  liberation  by  this  method.  He  could  afterwards 
say — "  If  any  other  man  thinketh  that  he  may  trust  foi 
salvation  to  works  of  merit  and  self- mortification,  I 
more." — But  he  found  the  way  as  unsatisfactory  as  Paul 
and  Luther  afterwards  found  it  under  other  forms  and 
skies.  At  last — when  he  had  reduced  his  daily  allow- 
ance of  food  to  a  single  grain  of  rice — and  when  his 
penances  were  extorting  the  admiration  of  all  who  heard 
of  them — in  sheer  disgust  he  ceased  his  efforts  and 
began  to  take  food  like  other  men.  This  to  his 
five  disciples  meant  apostasy.  They  abandoned  him 
when  he  most  needed  their  sympathy,  and  betook  them- 
selves to  the  holy  city,  Benares,  where  they  spoke 
mournfully  of  the  failure  of  one  from  whom  so  much 
had  been  expected. 

Was  there  then  no  way  of  peace  or  salvation  ?  The 
thought  of  returning  home  and  confessing  that  he  had 
followed  a  will-o'-the-wisp,  now  suggested  itself.  The 
duties  of  his  station  called  him.  Was  it  right  to  neglect 
these  and  the  ordinary  round  of  social  and  religious  exer- 
cises ?  With  this  temptation  and  with  others  he  wrestled. 
One  day,  he  sat  down  to  eat  his  simple  morning  meal, 
under  the  shade  of  a  fig-tree  (Ficiu  rcligiosa),  to  be 
known  thenceforward  by  all  Buddhists  as  the  Bo  tree  01 
tree  of  wisdom,  and  to  be  esteemed  sacred  by  them  as 
the  cross  is  by  Christians.  All  day  long  and  through  the 
night  he  sat  there,  meditating,  reflecting,  questioning. 
As  the  sun  rose  again,  the  truth  dawned  on  him  that  all 
his  unrest  and  misery  came  from  his  desires,  and  that 
man  himself  was  surely  greater  than  these.  Why,  then, 
should  he  be  their  slave  ?  That  was  to  him  the  moment 


H4    THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  WORLD 

of  illumination.  He  saw  the  open  secret  that  man  had 
only  to  be  true  to  himself  in  order  to  rise  permanently 
luperior  to  appetite,  desire  and  misery  ;  and  that  in 
the  extinction  of  desires,  through  inward  culture  and 
love  to  others,  lay  the  solution  of  the  mystery  of  life. 
Before  the  simplicity  and  power  of  this  way  of  salvation 
— salvation  from  the  lower  self,  especially  from  the  crav- 
ing for  continuous  personal  life — sacrifices  and  penances 
lost  their  efficacy  and  the  Veda  its  supernatural  authority. 
Caste  was  seen  to  be  a  convention  and  God  to  be  un- 
necessary. The  whole  world  changed  to  Gautama  in 
that  moment.  All  things  became  new.  The  desert 
rejoiced,  and  the  wilderness  became  vocal  with  praise. 
Is  not  the  world  to  every  one  just  what  he  himself  is  ? 

Think  where  Gautama,  according  to  our  point  of  view, 
now  stood.  Through  the  inspiration  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
he  had  gotten  an  insight  into  the  truth — "  He  that  findeth 
his  life  shall  lose  it,  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  shall  find 
it"; — not  into  the  root  and  all  the  relations  of  that  pro- 
found truth,  because  he  could  not  see  it  in  Him,  who  is 
the  root  and  life  of  the  soul,  and  separated  from  whom  the 
truth  itself  cannot  take  hold  of  humanity  with  power. 
But  what  he  did  see  filled  him  with  deep  joy.  It  is 
music  like  that  of  Israel  which  we  hear  in  the  pithy  verse 
in  which  he  summed  up  the  way  to  salvation  : — 

"  To  cease  from  all  sin, 
To  get  virtue, 

To  cleanse  one's  own  heart — 
This  is  the  religion  of  the  Buddhas." 

Gautama  saw  that  along  this  way  was  deliverance 
from  desire,  and  therefore  from  the  future  misery  of 
those  endless  transmigrations  which  had  weighed  on 
his  spirit  like  a  heavy  pall.  From  that  moment,  when 
the  truth  burst  on  his  mind  with  all  the  power  of 
supernatural  revelation,  the  chains  of  earth  fell  from 
him,  and,  claiming  the  title  of  Buddha,  he  went  forth 
from  the  wilderness  with  an  air  that  betokened  that  his 
heart  was  fixed,  resolved  to  teach  humanity  the  precious 


BUDDHIS^f  its 


•ecret  that  he  had  learned.  Two  truths  were  hereaftei 
clear  to  him  : — (i)  That  we  are  saved  through  the  power 
of  inward  culture  and  active  love,  and  that  all  sacrifices 
and  asceticisms  are  dead  works  ;  (2)  That  this  way  of 
peace  and  salvation  is  open  to  all  men  alike.  His  own 
statement  of  these  two  positions  was  given  in  the  formula 
of  "  the  four  sublime  verities  : " — (a)  There  is  pain  or 
sorrow  because  of  existence  ;  (l>)  This  comes  from  desire  ; 
(f)  Pain  and  sorrow  may  be  made  to  cease  by  conquest 
over  desire,  and  that  conquest  is  equivalent  to  the  attain- 
ing of  Nirvana  ;  (J)  There  is  a  way  that  leads  thither. 

The  first  of  these  verities  tells  what  had  driven 
Gautama  from  his  home.  Existence  in  any  form 
necessarily  involves  suffering.  Birth  or  death,  illness  or 
health,  is  suffering.  Clinging  to  the  five  elements,  that 
compose  every  being,  is  suffering.  It  were  better  not 
to  be. 

The  second  was  the  discovery  of  the  cause.  All 
suffering  is  caused  by  lust  or  desire  of  three  kinds — for 
•ensual  pleasure,  for  wealth,  and  for  existence. 

The  third  was  the  discovery  of  the  remedy.  Here 
comes  in  one  of  the  characteristic  words  of  Buddhism, 
Nirvana.  The  ordinary  meaning  of  the  word  is  extinct 
(as  fire),  set  (as  the  sun),  defunct  (as  a  saint  who  has 
passed  away).  To  Gautama,  Nirvana  meant  the  dis- 
appearance of  that  restless  condition  of  mind  and 
heart,  which  would  otherwise,  according  to  the  great 
mystery  of  Karma,  be  the  cause  of  renewed  individual 
existence.  By  the  doctrine  of  Karma  or  "  Act "  it 
meant  that  every  man's  condition  in  this  life  is 
the  consequence  and  exact  equivalent  of  his  acts  in  a 
previous  state.  All  worlds  come  into  existence,  change 
and  vanish  in  obedience  to  an  absolutely  rigid  law  of 
cause  and  effect.  This  law  takes  the  place  of  one  or 
"lore  gods,  personal  or  impersonal.  The  doctrine  that 
as  we  sow  we  must  reap,  and  must  reap  all  that  we  sow, 
is  extended  to  the  deeds  done  by  us  in  previous  states 
of  existence.  As  long  as  we  have  not  exhausted  the 
cousequences  of  our  past  actions,  we  must  ornUnue  to 


n6          THE  K  ELI  (J  IONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

be  reborn  in  one  form  or  another,  unless,  indeed,  we 
have  been  so  bad  that  at  death  we  are  born  into  hell, 
where  once  imprisoned  we  must  remain  for  thousands  of 
years.  At  the  end  of  this  terrible  period  of  suffering,  the 
man  may  be  reborn  as  a  plant  or  worm,  and  laboriously 
win  his  way,  by  righteous  living,  back  into  higher  states 
of  being.  Naturally,  extinction  is  regarded  as  a  para- 
disiacal escape  from  such  a  future.  With  Gautama,  the 
doctrine  of  Karma  took  the  place  of  transmigration.  As 
Buddhism  does  not  acknowledge  a  soul  in  man,  the  link 
of  connection  between  one  state  of  existence  and  another 
is  not  the  soul  but  the  Raima  of  the  being  who  dies. 
Round  that  there  gathers  a  new  outward  form  or  body, 
with  its  equipment  of  material  attributes,  sensations, 
ideas,  potentialities  and  thought.  The  Karma  of  the 
previous  being  determines  the  locality,  nature  and  future 
of  the  new  being.  Gautama,  not  being  able  to  accept 
the  doctrine  of  transmigration,  postulated  this  mystery 
of  Karma  as  a  moral  cause  of  the  unequal  appointments 
of  happiness  and  misery  in  this  life.  Notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  every  man  has  lived  a  long  series  of  con- 
nected lives,  he  who  follows  Buddha's  law  will  attain  to 
Nirvana  and  cease  to  be.  His  Karma  is  exhausted. 

The  fourth  verity  is  the  basis  of  the  moral  and 
religious  code  of  Buddhism.  The  way  to  Nirvana  is  by 
following  the  middle  path,  which  consists  in  eight 
things  : — right  belief,  that  is,  in  the  Buddha's  doctrine  ; 
right  resolve,  that  is,  to  abandon  all  ties  that  interfere 
with  becoming  a  monk  ;  right  language,  or  the  recitation 
of  the  law  ;  right  behaviour,  or  that  of  a  monk  ;  right 
mode  of  livelihood,  or  living  by  alms  ;  right  exertion,  or 
suppression  of  self;  right  mindfulness,  that  is,  of  the 
impurities  and  transitoriness  of  the  body ;  and  right 
meditation,  or  composure  of  the  mind  into  trance-like 
quietude.  There  are  four  stages  or.  this  path.1 

These  four  verities  in  which  Gautama  r<  sted  would 
not  have  given  to  Buddhism  its  extraordinary  success. 
On  them  Gautama  built  up  a  system  of  morality, 
1  Rhys  Davids,  Buddhism,  pp.  108-110. 


BUDDHISM  117 


the  essence  of  which  he  found  in  Brahmanism,  superior 
to  that  of  every  religion  save  Christianity ;  also,  a 
social  organisation  well  adapted  to  Eastern  life,  habits 
and  modes  of  thought.  \Vhen  dying,  he  told  his  dis- 
ciples that  he  left  them  in  his  stead  two  witnesses  of  the 
truth  he  had  taught,  namely,  Dharma  (the  law),  and 
Sangha  (the  Order).  Hence,  to  this  day,  the  formula 
for  all  Buddhist  neophytes,  on  being  received  into  the 
Order,  is,  "I  take  my  refuge  in  Buddha,  in  Dharma  and 
in  Sangha."  That  is,  I  vow  to  imitate  the  life  of 
Buddha  ;  I  accept  his  teaching  or  law ;  and  I  renounce 
the  ties  of  life,  of  society  and  property,  and  become  a 
monk,  content  to  dress  in  rags  and  to  beg  for  daily 
bread.  Buddha,  Dharma  and  Sangha  have  long  since 
been  elevated  to  the  rank  of  deities  by  the  personifying 
tendencies  of  the  Eastern  mind.  Their  names  are 
invoked  in  prayer  as  the  .three  great  objects  of  refuge, 
and  they  appear  as  gigantic  idols  in  the  temples  of  the 
different  countries  of  Eastern  Asia.  Gautama  enjoined 
five  commandments  on  all  : — Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  Thou 
shalt  not  steal ;  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery ;  Thou 
shalt  not  speak  untruth  ;  Thou  shalt  not  taste  intoxi- 
cating drink.  The  first  four  he  received  from  Brahman- 
ism  and  he  himself  added  the  fifth.  He  enjoined  five 
additional  commandments  on  members  of  the  society  : — 
They  were  required  to  abstain  from  eating  at  forbidden 
times ;  from  dancing,  singing,  music  and  worldly 
spectacles  ;  from  garlands,  scents,  unguents  and  orna- 
ments ;  from  the  use  of  a  high  or  broad  bed  ;  and  from 
receiving  gold  or  silver.  The  prohibition  not  to  receive 
money  was  held  to  be  the  most  important  and  was  for  a 
long  time  obeyed,  but,  subsequently,  monasteries  became 
owners  of  property  and  of  immense  revenues.  Gautama 
inculcated  the  virtues  cf  resignation,  of  long-suffering 
without  limit,  of  forgiveness  of  injuries,  and  all  the 
charities  and  duties  that  are  most  required  in  countries 
where  almost  every  one,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  is 
exposed  to  sore  suffering,  and  that  are  most  congenial  to 
a  race  that  is  naturally  of  a  mild  and  gentle  disposition. 


n8    THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  WORLD 

But  the  great  secret  of  the  Buddha's  success  is  to  be 
found  neither  in  the  four  verities  nor  in  his  moral  code, 
but  in  his  own  personality.  His  system  without  himself 
would  soon  have  been  dead.  It  is  almost  impossible  to 
over-estimate  the  power  of  his  personality.  The 
following  story  illustrates  it,  as  well  as  his  method  of 
teaching,  and  the  spirit  with  which  he  inspired  his 
disciples  : — 

A  rich  merchant  of  the  name  of  Purna,  being  converted, 
resolved  to  forsake  all  and  go  to  a  neighbouring  savage 
tribe  in  order  to  win  them  to  Buddhism.  Gautama 
apparently  tried  to  dissuade  him — 

"  The  men  of  Sronaparanta,  where  you  wish  to  fix  your 
residence,"  he  said,  "  are  violent,  cruel,  passionate,  fierce 
and  insolent.  When  these  men  address  you  in  wicked, 
brutal,  gross  and  insolent  language,  when  they  storm  at 
you  and  abuse  you,  what  will  you  do,  O  Purna  ?  " 

"  When  they  address  me  in  wicked  and  insolent 
language,  and  abuse  me,"  replied  Purna,  "  this  is  what 
I  will  think.  These  men  of  Sronaparanta  are  certainly 
good  and  gentle  men,  who  do  not  strike  me  either  with 
their  hands  or  with  stone." 

41  But  if  they  strike  you,  what  will  you  think  ?  " 

"  I  will  think  them  good  and  gentle,  because  they  do 
not  strike  me  with  cudgels  or  with  the  sword." 

"  But  what  if  they  do  strike  you  with  the  sword  ?" 

41 1  will  think  them  good  and  gentle,  because  they  do 
not  completely  deprive  me  of  life." 

41  But  if  they  do  deprive  you  of  life,  what  then  ?  " 

44 1  will  think  the  men  of  Sronaparanta  good  and 
gentle,  for  delivering  me  with  so  little  pain  from  this 
body  full  of  vileness. " 

44  It  is  well,  Purna,"  said  Buddha ;  4'  with  your 
perfect  patience  you  may  dwell  among  the  Sronaparan- 
takas.  Go  thou,  O  Purna,  thyself  delivered,  deliver 
others  ;  thyself  arrived  on  the  other  shore,  help  others 
thither ;  thyself  comforted,  comfort  others ;  having 
attained  complete  Nirvana,  guide  others  to  it." 

Purna  went  on  his  mission  and  succeeded.     Shall  we 


BUDDHISM  119 


err  in  giving  the  name  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the  power 
that  enables  one  man  to  so  transform  others.  Mo- 
hammed, Confucius,  Lao-Tse  and  successive  reformers 
of  Hinduism  had  it  in  measure,  but  none  of  them  so 
largely  as  Gautama.  He  seems  to  come  nearest  to 
Him,  to  whom  the  Father  gave  the  Spirit  without 
measure. 

Gautama  at  first  hesitated  whether  he  should  proclaim 
his  faith  to  others.  Instead  of  his  being  required  to  do 
so,  it  was  apparently  his  duty  to  cease  from  all  action 
on  arriving  at  enlightenment  and  peace.  According  to 
later  legends,  Mara,  the  evil  one,  suggested  this  to  him  : 
— "  With  great  pains,  blessed  one,  hast  thou  acquired 
this  doctrine  (Dharma).  Why  proclaim  it?  Beings  lost 
in  desires  and  lusts  will  not  understand  it.  Remain  in 
quietude.  Enjoy  Nirvana."  But  Gautama  was  greater 
than  his  creed.  He  went  forth  from  the  wilderness,  first, 
to  proclaim  his  way  of  salvation  to  the  two  Brahmans 
under  whose  instructions  he  had  placed  himself  seven 
years  before,  and  then — finding  that  both  of  them  were 
dead — to  the  five  disciples  who  had  abandoned  him 
when  he  renounced  the  way  of  asceticism.  To  these  he 
expounded  the  four  noble  truths  and  the  middle  path 
which  avoids  the  two  extremes — the  life  of  subjection  to 
the  senses  and  the  life  given  up  to  self-mortification. 
They  believed,  for  there  was  no  resisting  a  teacher  so 
beloved,  when  he  spoke  with  authority,  and  they  became 
the  first  members  of  the  fraternity  that  he  had  decided 
to  establish.  A  high-born  youth,  named  Yasa,  was  the 
next  convert.  Then  four  friends  of  Yasa,  and,  within  the 
next  three  months,  fifty  more  of  the  same  class  in  society 
repeated  the  triple  formula  and  were  admitted  to  the 
Order.  The  Buddha  at  once  sent  out  these  sixty 
disciples  in  different  directions  to  teach  and  to  preach  to 
others  what  they  had  heard  from  him.  "  Go  ye  now," 
he  said,  "and  turn  the  wheel  of  the  excellent  Law," 
that  is,  according  to  Mr.  Rhys  Davids,  "  set  rolling  the 
royal  chariot  wheel  of  a  universal  empire  of  truth  and 
righteousness ; "  the  wheel  being  the  sign  of  dominion, 


lao         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

and  the  turner  of  the  wheel  one  who  makes  his  chariot 
roll  unopposed  over  the  world. 

For  the  next  forty-five  years  the  Buddha  continued 
to  preach  his  doctrine,  travelling  from  place  to  place 
during  fine  weather,  and,  during  the  four  rainy  months, 
from  June  to  October,  going  "  into  retreat  "  and  instruct- 
ing chosen  disciples.  The  details  of  this  period  of  his 
life,  and  especially  of  his  visit  to  his  former  home,  are 
profoundly  interesting.  He  went  to  the  city  where  he 
was  to  have  been  king,  as  a  mendicant,  alms-bowl  in 
hand,  begging  from  house  to  house.  When  his  aged 
father  entreated  him  to  go  and  beg  elsewhere,  and  not 
bring  shame  on  the  royal  house  he  had  forsaken,  the 
Buddha  calmly  replied — "You,  O  King,  are  faithful  to 
your  ancestors,  who  were  kings ;  but  my  descent  is  from 
the  Buddhas  of  old,  and  they,  begging  their  food,  have 
always  lived  on  alms."1  When  the  Buddha  felt  his  end 
drawing  near,  he  spoke  to  Ananda,  his  cousin  and 
favourite  disciple,  the  following  words,  which  show 
clearly  that  he  maintained  the  fundamental  position  of 
his  system  to  the  last  : — 

"  O  Ananda,  I  am  now  grown  old,  and  full  of  years, 
and  my  journey  is  drawing  to  its  close  ;  I  have  reached 
eighty  years — my  sum  of  days — and  just  as  a  worn-out 
cart  can  only  with  much  care  be  made  to  move  along, 
so  my  body  can  only  be  kept  going  with  difficulty.  It 
is  only  when  I  become  plunged  in  meditation  that  my 
body  is  at  ease.  In  future,  be  ye  to  yourselves  your  own 
light,  your  own  refuge  ;  seek  no  otter  refuge.  Hold  fast 
to  the  truth  as  your  lamp.  Hold  fast  to  the  truth  as 
your  refuge ;  look  not  to  any  one  but  yourselves  as  a 
refuge. "  * 

And,  shortly  before  his  decease,  he  said, — 

"Behold  now,  O  monks,  I  exhort  you — Everything 
that  cometh  into  being  passeth  away ;  work  out  your 
own  perfection  with  diligence." 

These  were   his  last   words.     Long  before,  he   had 

1  Rhys  Davids,  Buddhism,  pp.  64-80. 
*  Monier  Williams,  ibid.  p.  49. 


BUDDHISM 


attained  Nirvana  or  extinction  of  the  fire  of  desires,  and 
he  now  passed  through  the  four  stages  of  meditation 
till  the  moment  came  for  his  Pari- Nirvana,  whereby  the 
fire  of  life  also  was  extinguished. 

It  b  not  very  difficult  to  understand  why  Buddhism 
succeeded.  Gautama's  own  personality  and  the  sacrifices 
which  every  one  knew  he  had  made  gave  him  the  willing 
ear  of  the  people  of  India,  a  people  who  are  always 
ready  to  follow  any  religious  teacher  in  whose  life  they 
see  tokens  of  contempt  for  the  world  and  of  obedience  to 
the  spiritual.  Buddhism  also  commended  itself  for  a 
time  to  the  common  people  as  the  highest  form  of 
practical  religion  that  had  ever  been  taught,  and  as  a 
political  and  democratic  protest  against  extravagant 
priestly  pretensions  and  religious  monopolies.  The 
Kshatriyas,  who  had  submitted  with  reluctance  to  the 
pretensions  of  the  Brahmans,  embraced  the  new  faith 
with  special  eagerness.  Rajah  after  Rajah  declared 
against  the  old  and  for  the  new.  Besides,  the  times  were 
ripe  for  such  a  movement,  as  they  were  in  the  Roman 
empire  when  unbelief  in  the  old  gods  and  consequent 
popular  immorality  gave  rise  by  reaction  to  the  elevated 
Stoicism  of  Epictetus  and  the  Antonines ;  as  they  were 
in  Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  degeneracy 
of  the  monks  and  priesthood  was  the  chief  factor  in 
rousing  the  popular  conscience  to  clamour  for  a  reforma- 
tion and  in  giving  momentum  to  the  new  movement, 
especially  in  the  purer  north.  Buddhism  also  appeared 
to  the  masses  as  a  protest  in  favour  of  liberty,  equality 
and  fraternity.  While  the  first  aim  of  Gautama  was  to 
found  an  order  of  mendicant  monks,  membership  in 
which  was-  necessary  to  attain  to  Nirvana,  multitudes 
attached  themselves  to  it  as  lay-brethren,  attracted  by 
his  doctrine  of  universal  brotherhood.  He  spoke  to  the 
people,  too,  in  their  own  language,  and  he  enforced  his 
words  by  using  the  literary  forms  that  the  common 
people  always  hear  gladly  ;  dialogues,  parables,  fables, 
and  frequent  repetitions.  "  Probably  he  was  the  first 
Introducer  of  real  preaching  into  India,  and  by  bis 


f22         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

practical  method  he  seemed  to  bring  down  knowledge 
from  the  clouds  to  every  man's  door."1 

Buddhism,  in  one  of  its  great  spiritual  defects,  had 
another  charm  for  man.  It  preached  a  consistent  and 
thorough  individualism,  and  thus  united  to  its  moral, 
social  and  political  forces  the  impulse  that  made  the 
Illuminism  of  Germany  in  the  eighteenth  century  the 
prevailing  European  fashion.  It  appealed  to  man's  self- 
sufficiency  by  declaring  that  he  could  attain  to  fulness  of 
knowledge  and  to  perfect  righteousness  by  his  own 
unassisted  efforts.  What  man  could  not  understand 
was  to  be  disbelieved.  Reason  was  able  to  penetrate  to 
the  innermost  secrets  of  the  universe,  and  revelation  was 
unnecessary. 

Of  the  long  contest  of  Buddhism  and  Brahmanism— 
or  rather  of  their  interaction  in  India — we  know  little. 
There  were  probably  local  persecutions,  but  Hinduism 
is  not  given  to  the  use  of  the  sword  or  the  rack.  Its 
essence  is  tolerance,  provided  that  no  interference  with 
caste  be  attempted  ;  while  Buddhism  not  only  made 
its  way  by  persuasion  alone,  but,  in  its  system  of 
propagating  its  doctrine  by  a  celibate  order,  was  akin 
to  the  spirit  of  Hinduism.  According  to  accounts 
given  us  by  the  Greek  observers  before  Christ,  and  by 
the  Chinese  pilgrims  who  visited  the  holy  land  of 
Buddhism  between  the  fourth  and  seventh  centuries  of 
our  era,  it  would  seem  that  the  various  currents  of  Hindu 
religious  life  flowed  as  peacefully  side  by  side  then  as 
they  do  now.  In  the  celebrated  caves  of  Elora,  filled 
with  marvels  of  sculpture  that  belong  to  a  period  prob- 
ably between  our  third  and  sixth  centuries,  "  Brah- 
manical,  Buddhist  and  Jaina  caves  are  seen  side  by 
side,  and  their  inmates,  no  doubt,  lived  on  terms  of 
fairly  friendly  tolerance,  much  as  the  members  of  the 
Anglican,  Roman  Catholic  and  Wesleyan  communions 
live  in  Europe  at  the  present  day."1  Buddhism  actually 
became  more  idolatrous  than  Hinduism,  and  gradually 
dropped  its  distinctive  features  of  ultra-pessimism  and 

1  Munier  Williams,  BuddJiism,  p.  51.  *  Ibid.  p.  170. 


BUDDHISM  123 


atheism.  It  thus  lost  its  individuality.  The  old  religion 
absorbed  its  popular  features  of  equality,  fraternity  and 
even  in  some  cases  the  abolition  of  caste  distinction;  and, 
by  identifying  the  heroes  of  the  nation  with  Avatars  or 
descents  of  Vishnu,  it  took  new  hold  of  the  imagination 
and  heart  of  the  people.  Buddhism,  Vaishnavism  and 
Saivism  each  borrowed  ideas  and  practices  from  the 
others,  but,  under  this  interaction,  Buddhism,  as  a  distinct 
•ystem,  faded  away,  and  for  centuries  it  has  had  no  hold 
on  India.  The  old  faith  took  it  into  its  arms  and  sucked 
out  its  life-blood.  Hinduism,  however,  incorporated  into 
itself  so  much  of  the  spirit  of  Gautama,  that  we  can  still 
trace  it  in  the  manners  of  "the  mild  Hindu,"  as  he  is 
named,  half  scornfully,  by  the  disciples  of  Him  who 
called  Himself  "  meek  and  lowly." 


NOTE  TO  PAGE  no. 

Of  the  sacred  books  of  Buddhism,  there  are  two 
collections,  representing  respectively  Southern  and 
Northern  Buddhism.  We  do  not  know  when  either 
was  first  committed  to  writing.  We  are  not  certain 
even  with  regard  to  the  time  when  the  founder  of 
Buddhism  lived.  While  a  Chinese  account  gives  the 
tenth  century  before  Christ,  there  are  ancient  inscriptions 
in  India  which  place  the  date  of  his  birth  or  death  in  the 
third  century  before  Christ.  543  B.C.,  the  date  assigned 
by  the  Buddhists  of  Ceylon  for  his  death  and  indirectly 
confirmed  by  coins  and  inscriptions,  was  for  some  time 
commonly  accepted,  but  Mr.  Rhys  Davids  would  bring 
it  more  than  a  century  nearer  our  time,  and  Sir  Monier 
Williams  is  satisfied  with  saying  that  "  we  shall  not  be 
far  wrong  if  we  assert  that  he  was  born  about  the  year  500 
B.C."  The  southern  canon,  called  the  Tri-pita££  or  three 
baskets,  from  the  way  in  which  the  leaves  in  each  volume 
were  originally  kept  together,  was  determined  about 
250  B.C.,  at  a  council  of  the  Buddhist  church  held  at  Pata- 
liputra,  on  the  Ganges,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Emperor 


124         THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE   WORLD 

Asoka,  the  Buddhist  Constantine  and  a  much  better  man 
than  the  Roman  Emperor.  This  collection  is  about  twice 
the  length  of  our  Bible  and  is  written  in  Pali,  a  language 
the  origin  of  which  is  a  matter  of  controversy,  though  a 
probable  supposition  is  that,  it  was  originally  a  modifica- 
tion of  Sanskrit  and  at  the  time  a  vernacular  where  the 
Buddha  lived.  Mahendra,  the  son  of  Asoka,  took  this 
canon  or  part  of  it  with  him,  when  he  went,  as  a 
Buddhist  mendicant,  accompanied  by  his  only  sister  to 
Ceylon,  and  converted  the  people  of  that  island  to  the 
faith.  From  Ceylon,  Buddhism  spread  to  Siam,  Burmah 
and  adjoining  lands,  in  all  of  which — though  rejected  in 
India — it  has  remained  to  this  day.  The  northern  canon, 
written  in  a  debased  Sanskrit,  is  very  voluminous.  It 
was  determined  at  a  much  later  date,  and  has  been 
swollen  by  developments  that  make  the  religion  entirely 
different  from  what  its  author  intended.  The  northern 
church  includes  an  overwhelming  proportion  of  the 
Buddhists  of  the  world  and  calls  its  method  and  canon 
the  Great  Vehicle,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Little 
Vehicle  of  the  southern  church.  It  tells,  for  instance, 
that  the  Buddha  was  born  of  a  virgin;  was  welcomed 
at  his  birth  by  angels  and  received  by  an  old  saint,  en- 
dowed with  a  prophetic  vision  ;  that  he  was  presented 
in  the  temple,  baptized  with  water  and  afterwards 
with  fire  ;  that  he  astonished  the  most  learned  doctors 
by  his  wisdom,  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilder- 
ness and  tempted  by  the  devil  ;  that  he  went  about 
preaching  and  working  miracles  ;  that  he  was  the  friend 
of  sinners  and  was  transfigured  on  a  mount ;  that  he 
descended  into  hell  and  ascended  into  Heaven. 

"  About  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  Nestorian 
missionaries  reached  Central  Asia  and  made  numbers  of 
Buddhist  priests  of  Tibet  acquainted  with  the  story  of 
Christ's  life  and  with  the  ceremonial  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  True  to  the  eclectic  instincts  of  Buddhism,  the 
Tibetan  priesthood  then  and  in  subsequent  centuries 
adopted  as  many  Christian  ideas,  traditions  and  cere- 
monies, as  they  thought  compatible  with  Buddhist  ortho 


BUDDHISM  12$ 


doxy."1  In  the  fifteenth  century,  a  reformed  Buddhist 
church  in  Tibet  adopted  the  whole  organisation  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  so  we  find  there,  pope, 
cardinal,  prelate,  bishops,  abbots,  priests,  monks,  nuns ; 
with  the  ritual  of  infant  baptism,  confirmation,  ordina- 
tion and  investiture,  masses  for  the  dead,  litanies,  chants 
and  antiphones,  rosaries,  chaplets,  candles,  holy  water, 
processions,  pilgrimages,  saints'  days  and  fast  days.  It 
is  quite  clear  that  Buddhist  scribes  are  responsible  foe 
whatever  borrowing  there  was. 

*  Ehel,  TJtrrt  Lectvrti  fm  BtuUhitm^  pp.  r6-ya. 


i«6         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 


CHAPTER  VIII 
SUCCESS  AND  FAILURE  OF  BUDDHISM 

Success  of  Buddhism  in  the  reigns  of  Asoka  and  Kaniskha 
— Its  services  to  humanity — Its  real  failure — The  cause 
to  be  looked  for  in  its  atheistic  or  agnostic  position 
— Practical  abandonment  of  this  for  Lamism,  Adi- 
Buddhism  or  the  worship  of  Bodhi-Satwas — Character 
of  the  people  where  Buddhism  is  supreme  —  lu 
mechanical  worship — Value  attached  to  vain  repeti- 
tions— Its  defective  view  of  man — Consciousness  of 
misery  but  not  of  guilt — Sin  cosmical  and  forgiveness 
impossible — Supposed  influence  of  such  a  view — Arises 
from  inadequate  conceptions  of  atonement  and  repent- 
ance— The  ultimate  aim  of  Buddhism  really  selfish 
— Buddhism  and  Christianity  opposite  poles,  as  regards 
their  view  of  life — The  position  of  Buddhism  regard- 
ing the  universal  duty  of  celibacy  and  mendicancy 
its  sufficient  condemnation — How  Christianity  meets 
the  fundamental  truths  that  gave  Buddhism  its  power 
— Our  duty. 

OF  all  the  religions  we  have  considered,  none  seems  to 
give  so  much  promise  as  Buddhism,  What,  then, 
is  the  verdict  of  history  with  regard  to  it  ?  For,  according 
as  a  religion  has,  in  the  long  run  and  on  a  wide  scale, 
elevated  man,  so  is  its  truth.  According  as  it  has  failed 
in  this  regard,  so  must  there  be  defect.  Humanity  will 
judge  it  by  the  civilisation  which  it  has  produced  and 
maintained. 

The  practical  result  of  Buddhism  is  not  what  might 
have  been  expected  from  its  spirituality,  its  ethical 
code  and  the  lofty  character  of  its  founder.  Undoubt- 


*ISCC£SS  AND  FAILURE  OF  BUDDHISM     127 

edly,  it  was  singularly  successful  for  a  time.  During 
Gautama's  life,  it  spread  quietly  from  one  petty  kingdom 
to  another.  After  his  death  its  progress  was  arrested, 
owing  to  internal  dissensions  in  the  Order  and  wars 
between  rival  states ;  but  the  unification  of  almost 
the  whole  of  India  under  Chandragupta  and  his  grand- 
ion,  Asoka,  from  320  to  250  B.C.,  gave  it  a  great 
opportunity.  Those  emperors,  being  of  Sudra  origin, 
naturally  favoured  a  teaching  and  system  that  made  light 
of  caste  distinctions.  Asoka,  who  took  the  title  of 
"  beloved  of  the  gods,"  distinguished  himself  for  zeal  in 
propagating  the  new  faith,  and,  for  this  as  well  as  for 
virtues  seldom  found  in  kings,  his  name  is  honoured  to  this 
day  wherever  Buddhists  are  found.  To  the  men  of  his  time 
he  was  a  universal  monarch.  To  them  India  was  as  truly 
"  the  world  "  as  China  was  to  Confucius  and  the  Roman 
empire  to  St.  Luke.  The  noble  character  of  Asoka,  as 
well  as  his  triumphs,  his  devotion  and  his  missionary  real, 
made  him  deservedly  illustrious.  "  If  a  man's  fame,"  says 
Koppen,  "  can  be  measured  by  the  number  of  hearts  who 
revere  his  memory,  by  the  number  of  lips  who  have 
mentioned  and  still  mention  him  with  honour,  Asoka  is 
more  famous  than  Charlemagne  or  Caesar."  He  erected, 
in  different  parts  of  India,  stone  pillars  at  enormous 
distances  from  each  other  that  testify  to  the  extent  of  his 
empire,  and  he  inscribed  on  these,  and  on  rocks,  edicts 
breathing  the  purest  spirit  of  "  peace  on  earth  and  good- 
will to  men."  Among  other  commands,  he  gavt 
directions  for  what  may  be  called  the  first  hospitals, 
where  men  and  beasts  were  to  be  treated  medically ; 
and  what  is  still  more  remarkable  in  a  Buddhist,  he 
enjoined  quinquennial  periods  of  national  humiliation 
and  confession  of  sins.  His  religion  appeals  "  to  Jew 
and  Christian  and  Moslem  alike,  as  part  of  the  universal 
religion  of  humanity."  l  Three  centuries  later,  Kanishka, 
:he  Indo-Scythian  king  of  Kashmir,  became  to  northern 
Ruddhism  what  Asoka  had  been  to  southern.  Under 
hii  patronage,  Buddhism  entered  upon  another  period  of 
I  Wheeler,  Histsry  a/ India,  voL  viiL  p.  314. 


138         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WOULD 

great  missionary  revival.  It  may  therefore  be  truly 
said  that  for  a  period  of  several  centuries  Buddhism  was 
a  mighty  reforming  force  on  a  great  scale.  It  conferred  un- 
told benefits  on  India,  and  on  Eastern  and  Northern  Asia. 
"  It  introduced  education  and  culture ;  it  encouraged 
literature  and  art ;  it  promoted  physical,  moral,  and 
intellectual  progress  up  to  a  certain  point  ;  it  proclaimed 
peace,  goodwill,  and  brotherhood  among  men  ;  it  depre- 
cated war  between  nation  and  nation ;  it  avowed 
sympathy  with  social  liberty  and  freedom  ;  it  gave  back 
much  independence  to  women ;  it  preached  purity  of 
thought,  word,  and  deed  (though  only  for  the  accumula- 
tion of  merit)  ;  it  taught  self-denial  without  self-torture  ; 
it  inculcated  generosity,  charity,  tolerance,  love,  self- 
sacrifice,  and  benevolence,  even  towards  the  inferior 
animals ;  it  advocated  respect  for  life  and  compassion 
towards  all  creatures  ;  it  forbade  avarice  and  the  hoarding 
of  money ;  and  from  its  declaration  that  a  man's  future 
depended  on  his  present  acts  and  condition,  it  did  good 
service  for  a  time  in  preventing  stagnation,  stimulating 
exertion,  promoting  good  works  of  all  kinds,  and  elevating 
the  character  of  humanity." l  This  is  a  splendid  cata- 
logue of  services,  enumerated  too  by  one  whom  Buddhists 
consider  more  candid  than  generous  ;  but  when  we  look 
for  service  still  more  radical  and  permanent  the  real 
failure  of  Buddhism  is  apparent.  It  has  found  its  home 
only  among  the  lower  forms  of  civilisation.  "  It  may 
be  safely  asserted  that  no  Aryan  race,  while  existing  in 
anything  like  purity,  was  ever  converted  to  Buddhism 
or  could  permanently  adopt  its  doctrines. "  *  The  same 
assertion  may  be  made  regarding  the  reception  of  it  by 
Semitic  peoples.  More  generally,  it  may  be  said  with 
truth  that  Buddhism  has  permanently  elevated  neither 
the  race  nor  any  nation  that  adopted  it  as  the  law  of  iti 
life.  It  has  not  impelled  man  forward  along  the  path  oJ 
general  progress.  It  is  not  associated  with  great  historic 
movements.  It  has  not  been  favourable  to  scientific 

1  Monier  Williams,  Buddhism,  p.  551. 

*  Fcrgusson,  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  p.  $7. 


SUCCESS  AND  FA/LURE  OF  BUDDHISM     129 

research  or  produced  any  great  literature  or  art.  It  has 
not  widened  man's  soul.  On  the  contrary,  the  character 
of  the  people  where  Buddhism  prevails  is  unspiritual  and 
nnprogressive.  In  no  religion  is  the  priesthood  so 
ignorant,  worship  so  mechanical,  and  idolatry  so  general. 
Better  fruit  might  have  been  expected,  and  there  must  be 
something  radically  wrong  with  the  root,  when  the  fruit 
has  been  so  poor  for  centuries.  Notwithstanding  a 
period  of  brilliant  promise,  it  may  be  said  then  to  have 
failed.  The  failure  of  such  a  religion,  "  the  one  infal- 
lible diagnostic  of  which  is  a  belief  in  the  infinite  capacity 
of  the  human  intellect,"  testifies  strikingly  to  the  soul's 
need  for  God  and  to  the  true  greatness  of  the  soul.  The 
main  defects  of  Buddhism  would  seem  to  be  its  atheism 
and  its  consequent  defective  view  of  man.  Let  us  con- 
sider these. 

i.  That  it  is  atheistic  or  agnostic  can  hardly  be  denied, 
though  there  is  an  aspect  from  which  it  has  been  described 
as  almost  perfect  theism.  Buddha  is  clear  light  or  intelli- 
gence diffused  throughout  the  universe.  As  the  highest 
form  of  intelligence  is  the  perfect  man,  the  only  object 
of  worship  is  the  memory  of  the  glorified  Buddha  or  the 
images  of  others  who  shall  come  hereafter  to  earth  ta 
Buddhas,  or,  as  in  Tibet  and  Mongolia,  some  person 
whom  the  Lamas  or  priests  decide  to  be  the  one  in 
whom  the  spirit  of  Buddha  dwells  and  who  is  regarded 
as  the  representative  of  perfect  intelligence.  The 
Grand  Lama  never  dies;  he  is  lost  sight  of  in  one  form 
only  to  reappear  in  another ;  and  the  function  of  the 
other  Lamas  is  to  decide  who  he  is  or  where  he  is  to  be 
found  at  any  given  time.  When  the  soul  of  the  Grand 
Lama  has  departed  from  his  body,  these  select  a  child 
into  whom  they  declare  that  the  spirit  of  Buddha  has 
passed,  and  they  bring  him  up  in  a  monastery  with  special 
care,  preserving  him  from  all  sensual  and  impure  influences. 
They  teach  him  to  look  upon  himself  as  the  shrine  of  the 
divinity  and  as  entitled  to  the  homage  of  all  men.  These 
fictions  have  now  to  come  into  rude  contact  with  the  fact, 
that  no  decision  can  be  arrived  at  as  to  which  of  the  children 


ioo         THE  RELIGIONS  OP  THE    WORLD 

born  in  Tibet  when  the  old  Lama  dies  is  his  reincarna- 
tion, until  three  candidates  are  proposed  for  election, 
acceptable  to  the  Chinese  government,  or  its  residents  at 
Lhassa.  All  power,  too,  has  been  taken  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  Grand  Lama.  Most  of  the  children  who  are 
elected  to  the  position  "  either  die  naturally  or  are  made 
to  die  before  they  have  gained  any  knowledge,  and  an 
elected  chief  Lama  acts  as  regent  or  administrator  of 
affairs,  while  the  incarnated  Buddha  is  supposed  to  lose 
himself  in  sublime  heights  of  meditation  and  receive 
divine  homage."  * 

The  fact  that  millions  of  devout  Buddhists  have  for 
centuriesaccepted  a  substitute  for  God,  which  is  little  better 
than  the  Goddess  of  Reason  whom  the  French  Revolu- 
tionists set  up  for  a  time,  or  other  substitutes,  human, 
bestial,  or  wooden,  to  whom  men  have  given  the  great 
name,  is  a  commentary  on  the  failure  of  Buddhism. 
Reverent  agnosticism  is  preferable  to  such  forms  of  theism. 
Gautama  would  have  considered  Lamisra  more  childish 
and  idolatrous  than  the  metaphysical  god  of  the  Brahmans, 
whose  doctrine  of  God  he  rejected,  not  so  much  because 
it  was  incapable  of  proof,  as  because  an  abstract,  im- 
personal spirit  could  not  be  regarded  as  possessing  exist- 
ence at  all.  Existence  without  something  to  exist  for, 
Intelligence  without  something  to  understand,  Conscious- 
ness without  something  to  be  conscious  about,  Joy 
without  something  to  rejoice  about,  are  simply  names 
for  zero,  though  spelled  with  capital  letters.  Gautama 
therefore  concluded  that  there  was  no  such  spirit. 
When  the  Brahmans  in  their  turn  pressed  him  for  an 
explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  world  and  man,  he 
disclaimed  the  character  of  a  disputant  and  declared  him- 
self to  be  simply  one  "  who  participates  in  the  great  mass 
of  evil  that  exists,  and  seeks  only  a  physician. "  The 
only  Creator  that  he  recognised  is  Act-force  or  the 
mystery  of  Karma.  No  force  can  ever  be  lost,  and  there 
is  nothing  eternal  but  a  perpetually  revolving  circle  of 
causes  and  effects.  Therefore  it  is  that  the  wheel, 

1  Monier  Williams,  Buddhism,  p.  286. 


SUCCESS  AND  FA/LUKE  OF  BUDDHISM      131 

which  represents  this  doctrine  and  also  its  rolling  over 
the  world,  is  one  of  the  chief  symbols  of  Buddhism. 
The  wheel-like  form  of  the  lotus — the  petals  instead  of 
the  spokes  typifying  the  doctrine  of  perpetual  cycles  of 
existence — and  the  perpetual  renewing  of  the  beautiful 
flower  after  decay  and  death,  make  it  another  favourite 
symbol. 

On  account  of  its  atheism,  Sir  Monier  Williams  sayi 
that  "  Buddhism  ought  not  to  be  called  a  religion  at  all, 
for  where  there  is  no  God  there  can  be  no  need  ; "  but  it 
is  useless  fighting  for  a  word  when  the  facts  are  on  the 
other  side.  A  man  like  King  Asoka  was  truly  religious. 
"  There  is  no  gift  comparable  with  the  gift  of  religion," 
U  one  of  his  rock-cut  inscriptions.  Buddhism  has  been 
a  religion  to  countless  millions.  Buddha  himself  soon 
came  to  be  worshipped  as  supreme.  In  Nepaul,  one 
supreme  Buddha  called  Adi- Buddha  is  worshipped. 
The  Buddhist  calendar  is  full  of  Bodhi-Satwas,  that 
is,  persons  having  as  their  essence  knowledge  derived 
from  self-enlightening  intellect,  and  these  are  worshipped 
by  the  people  as  the  Budclhas  who  are  to  be  in  the 
future.  They  are  now  living  as  angels  in  Heaven,  and 
their  Karma  will  produce  other  beings  in  a  continually 
ascending  scale  of  goodness,  until  they  are  vested  in 
Buddhas  who  will  come  to  earth,  as  they  may  be 
needed.  As  Gautama  has  passed  completely  away,  the 
pious  Buddhist  turns  with  more  devout  feelings  of 
worship  to  those  Bodhi-Satwas  than  to  one  who  U 
extinct.  In  southern  Buddhist  temples,  the  pure  white 
image  of  Maitreya,  the  Buddha  of  kindness,  is  found  by 
the  side  of  Gautama  ;  and  in  northern  temples,  great 
Images  of  Manju-Sri,  the  personification  of  wisdom,  of 
Avalokitesvara,  the  personification  of  protecting  power, 
or  of  Amitabha.  «« immeasurable  light,"  are  prominent 
This  universal  abandonment  of  atheism  shows  that  the 
soul  will  not  dispense  with  God  ;  still,  as  all  this  varied 
theological  development  is  external  to  the  spirit  of 
original  Buddhism,  it  has  not  affected  the  moral  nature 
of  the  people  very  profoundly.  In  Buddhist  countries, 


132          THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

the  people  are  hard,  unsympathetic  and  barren. 
Morality,  which  was  at  first  the  distinguishing  feature 
of  Buddhism,  has  disappeared  as  a  regulative  or  in- 
spiring power.  Buddhist  worship  is  a  strange  picture 
of  agnosticism  combined  with  the  greatest  development 
of  formalism  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Buddhism 
is  the  only  religion  that  has  invented  praying  by 
machinery,  or  what  Carlyle  calls  "  the  rotary  calabash 
system,"  the  principle  of  which  is  that  there  is  a 
spiritual  value  in  "vain  repetitions."  The  prayer  most 
frequently  used  is  a  mere  formulary,  consisting  of  the 
six-syllabled  sentence,  om  mani  padme  Hum,  that  is 
Om  !  the  Jewel  in  the  Lotus  !  Hum  !  Whatever  the 
origin  and  meaning  of  this  prayer,  no  other  prayer  is 
considered  so  valuable  or  is  repeated  so  often.  An 
incessant  stream  of  repetition  of  these  six  syllables  is  kept 
going  on  in  some  Buddhist  countries,  by  mouth,  and  by 
turning  cylinders  on  which  the  words  are  inscribed,  by 
every  known  mechanical  means.  Cranks,  winds,  and 
waters  are  enlisted  in  the  service,  the  object  being  to 
store  up  merit  by  incessant  repetition  of  the  prayer.  A 
rich  harvest  awaits  the  European  or  American  trader  who 
first  introduces  dynamos  into  those  countries.  Where 
electricity  can  be  obtained  economically,  prayer  wheels 
can  be  easily  arranged,  with  the  words  printed  millions 
of  times  on  scrolls  of  paper,  and  these  can  be  kept  re- 
volving continually  at  a  minimum  of  expense  ! 

2.  Gautama's  defective  view  of  man. 

(a)  Gautama  had  apparently  no  consciousness  of 
guilt ;  it  was  not  sin  but  misery  that  he  yearned  to  be 
delivered  from.  He  offered  to  remain  at  home  if  his 
father  would  guarantee  him  exemption  from  sickness, 
old  age,  death  and  future  births.  But  the  deepest 
misery  of  man  is  not  poverty,  pain,  disease,  nor  death, 
but  the  burden  of  guilt.  To  Gautama's  gentle  nature, 
which  abhorred  everything  like  the  infliction  of  pain, 
the  sacrifices  of  the  Brahmans  were  simply  repulsive, 
because  he  did  not  realise  the  deep  sense  of  need  out  of 
which  sacrifices  spring.  He  rejected  the  ideas  of 


SUCCESS  AND  FAILURE  OF  BUDDHISM     133 

propitiation  and  atonement  To  him  sin  was  a  cos- 
mica!,  not  a  personal  thing ;  inherent  in  the  world  of 
matter  and  inseparable  from  all  forms  of  transient  being. 
If  a  man  sins,  the  punishment  which  nature  has  attached 
to  the  sin  must  take  effect.  There  can  be  no  remission. 
Buddhism  thus  took  the  position,  with  regard  to  sin  and 
forgiveness,  which  some  writers  declare  to  be  more  favour- 
able to  morality  than  the  Christian  position.  They 
declare  that  by  "the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  remission 
of  sins  the  knowledge  of  the  inevitable  sequence  of 
effects  and  causes  is  robbed  of  half  its  proper  influence  on 
the  imagination  ; "  *  that  without  such  a  doctrine,  virtue 
would  have  more  stringent  sanctions  ;  that  men  would 
be  more  thoughtful  and  more  beneficent ;  that  they 
would  know  that  the  consequences  of  evil  actions  are 
irreparable  ;  and  that  the  human  race  would  altogether 
fare  better  and  be  better  off.  A  practical  answer  to 
these  contentions  is  that  the  experiment  has  been  tried, 
under  the  most  favourable  circumstances,  and  with 
results  most  unfavourable  to  morality.  A  rational 
answer  is  found  in  proper  conceptions  of  love,  atone- 
ment and  repentance,  especially  in  seeing  that  inflexible 
righteousness  and  purity  are  involved  in  love.  That  is 
a  perversion  of  Christianity  which  teaches  that  we  can 
escape  the  consequences  of  our  sins  by  any  process  that 
does  not  involve  radical  repentance.  The  love  of  God 
in  Christ  makes  us  hate  sin,  and  this  explains  why  the 
loftiest  morality  has  always  been  found  in  connection 
with  the  Cross.  "  There  is  forgiveness  with  Thee  that 
Thou  mayest  be  feared,"  said  the  Psalmist ;  and  the 
Cross  inspires  us  with  this  fear,  as  well  as  with 
passionate  love  to  Him  who  loved  us  and  gave  Him- 
self for  us.  A  religion  that  knows  nothing  of  guilt 
has  not  probed  the  wound  of  humanity.  It  cannot, 
therefore,  give  the  remedy  that  man  needs,  cannot 
elevate  our  nature,  and  cannot  be  the  permanent 
religion  of  humanity. 

(6)  The  ultimate  aim  that  Buddhism  sets  before  men 

1  Mil*  E.  Simcox,  Natural  Law,  An  Ettay  in  Ethic*. 


134         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE    WORLD 

is  a  purely  selfish  one.  One  warm  advocate  of  Buddhism l 
says  that  "  Probably  there  never  has  been  a  system  cf 
morality  so  purely  unselfish  offered  to  the  world.  It 
held  out  no  rewards,  not  even  the  personal  existence  of 
the  saint,  as  a  thing  to  be  preserved  at  all  ;  it  was  pure 
renunciation,  divorce  from  all  regard  for  oneself."  Yes, 
but  note  that  its  conception  of  self  is  inadequate. 
Gautama  denied  the  existence  of  the  soul  and  made  the 
extinction  of  individual  being  take  the  place  of 
identification  with  Brahma.  His  view  of  the  soul 
resulted  from  his  atheistic  position  and  his  belief  in  the 
materialistic  nature  of  all  existence.  According  to  him 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  purely  spiritual  existence : — 
"  He  is  a  heretic  who  holds  that  man  has  a  soul  or 
permanent  self  separate  from  the  body.  There  is  no  life 
that  is  not  material  and  man's  only  salvation  is  not  to  be. 
The  great  problem  comes  to  be  how  to  commit  suicide  ; 
suicide,  not  of  that  pitiful  and  illusive  kind  which  rids  a 
man  of  life  in  one  particular  form,  but  which  rids  him  of 
existence  in  every  form."8  The  great  aim  is  thus  not 
really  unselfish  but  the  very  opposite.  Mr.  Rhys  Davids 
indeed  declares  that  the  Buddhist  in  seeking  Nirvana 
has  a  lofty  motive  for  humanity  as  well  as  for  himself; 
that  he  knows  that  by  destroying  his  Karma  he  leaves 
behind  him  no  inheritance  of  misery  ;  he  ceases  to  be, 
and  no  one  takes  his  place ;  and  thus  he  helps  forward 
to  the  goal  of  non-existence.  This  is  true  so  far  as  it 
goes,  but  it  does  not  go  very  far.  It  means  that  the 
best  men  vanish  and  leave  the  masses  in  hopeless  misery. 
The  great  aim  is  deliverance  from  personal  suffering. 
The  Buddhist  dies  to  the  lower,  not  that  he  may  realise 
the  true  self,  not  that  he  may  rise  with  Christ  to  newness 
of  life,  but  that  he  may  pass  away  into  nothingness.  He 
is  to  hate  his  life  in  this  world,  not  that  he  may  keep  tt 
unto  life  eternal,  according  to  the  well-balanced  and  lofty 
law  laid  down  by  Jesus,  but  in  order  that  he  may  never 
have  any  more  life.  This  defect  of  Buddhism  also  springs 

1  Mr.  Mills. 
*  Marcus  Dods,  Mohammed,  Buddha  mnd Christ,  p.  155. 


SUCCESS  AND  FAILURE  OP  BUDDHISM     135 

from  its  atheism.  There  is  nothing  higher  than  man,  and 
whatever  he  attains  unto  must  be  by  his  own  merit  and 
wholly  for  himself.  He  is  not  a  creature,  still  less  a 
sinner  accountable  to  a  holy  God.  He  is  a  thing  of  fate 
that  suffers,  and  all  efforts  must  be  directed  to  escape 
from  his  own  misery.  He  is  exhorted  to  be  kind,  long- 
suffering  and  forgiving,  not  from  love  to  God,  who 
speaks  through  His  Spirit  in  our  reason  and  conscience, 
nor  from  love  to  those  who  being  children  of  one  Father 
are  our  brothers  indeed,  but  because  with  opposite 
states  of  mind  are  connected  the  desires  from  which  our 
misery  springs.  Gautama's  words  when  he  exultantly 
rejoiced  in  the  dawn  of  light  in  his  mind,  as  well  as  his 
last  words,  clearly  show  that  his  own  escape  from  the 
danger  of  rebirth  was  the  great  subject  for  congratulation  ; 
and  he  taught  "  the  Way"  to  his  disciples,  that  each  of 
them  might  attain  to  similar  blessedness.  This  view  of 
the  selfishness  of  Buddhism,  even  when  it  teaches  that 
we  must  die  to  self,  enables  us  to  understand  the  words 
of  Max  Muller: — "In  no  religion  are  we  so  constantly 
reminded  of  our  own  as  in  Buddhism,  and  yet,  in  no 
religion  has  man  been  drawn  away  so  far  from  the  truth 
as  in  the  religion  of  Buddha.  Buddhism  and  Christianity 
are  indeed  the  two  opposite  poles  with  regard  to  the 
most  essential  points  of  religion — Buddhism  ignoring  all 
feeling  of  dependence  on  a  higher  power  and  therefore 
denying  the  very  existence  of  a  supreme  deity ; 
Christianity  resting  entirely  on  a  belief  in  God  as  the 
Father,  in  the  Son  of  Man  as  the  Son  of  God,  and 
making  us  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  His  own 
Son." 

The  defective  view  of  man  taken  by  Buddhism  is 
most  clearly  seen  when  it  makes  celibacy  the  loftiest 
state  and  mendicancy  the  highest  ideal  of  life.  This  is 
really  its  sufficient  condemnation.  Instead  of  placing 
men  under  the  law  which  Paul  laid  down  and  which 
common-sense  sanctions,  "  he  that  will  not  work  neither 
shall  he  eat,"  it  tells  them  that  they  ought  to  eat  only 
what  they  beg  from  others.  All  the  ties  of  life  are 


136         THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE   WORLD 

ignored.  A  premium  is  put  on  celibacy  and  on 
indolence.  Such  are  the  fruits  which  come  from 
believing  that  existence  is  a  mistake  and  a  curse.  No 
wonder  that  even  Mr.  Mills  remarks  on  these  as  fatal 
shortcomings: — "Not  less  than  one -third  of  the  male 
population  become  Lamas  or  monks  in  the  countries 
where  the  influence  of  Buddhism  is  greatest."  And, 
"  the  monk  with  staff  and  alms-bowl  asking  for  bread  is 
not  quite  honourable  or  manly  in  the  midst  of  working 
mankind." 

The  great  cause  then  of  the  failure  of  Buddhism  is 
that  it  did  not  reveal  God.  Agnosticism  is  always  prac- 
ti&^lly  the  same  as  atheism,  and  from  atheism  the  heart 
recoils  in  dismay.  We  can  see  in  Gautama  himself,  in  his 
country  and  his  time,  in  the  very  defects  as  well  as  the  ex- 
cellence of  his  doctrine,  the  explanation  of  his  success. 
Speaking  broadly,  it  may  be  said  that  the  Brahmans 
offered  men  religious  observances  without  morality. 
Gautama  offered  them  morality  without  religion  ;  and 
his  system  was  accepted  for  a  time  a«  the  more  reason- 
able of  the  two.  Yet,  while  both  have  failed,  Buddhism 
has  been  the  greater  failure  ;  and  its  failure  proves  that 
morality  cannot  be  permanent,  when  dissociated  from  its 
root  in  God. 

What  are  the  affinities  of  Christianity  with  Buddhism? 
The  Holy  Scriptures  declare  that  man  is  made  in  the 
image  of  God,  and  the  promise  to  Israel  was  that  God 
would  exhibit  His  perfect  image  in  a  man,  and  that  through 
him  He  would  destroy  death  and  sin.  In  the  fulness 
of  the  times,  this  promise  was  fulfilled  and  now  the  risen 
Christ  offers  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  men,  to  make  them  sons 
of  God.  In  yielding  to  His  Spirit,  we  are  yielding  our 
powers  not  to  an  external  force  but  to  our  rightful  King. 
In  the  innermost  depths  of  our  being,  His  grace  and  our 
freedom  are  the  same  thing.  That  profound  feeling  of 
reverence  for  the  human  spirit  and  for  the  equality  of  all 
men  which  characterises  Buddhism  has  thus  its  full  vin- 
dication in  Christianity.  "  And  every  subordinate  idea 
which  has  grown  out  of  these  primary  convictions  in  the 


SUCCESS  AND  FA  I  LUKE  OP  BUDDHISM     137 

mind  of  the  Buddhist  has  that  which  answers  to  it  in  the 
Gospel."1  Gautama  was  only  a  man.  He  did  not 
pretend  to  be  more,  though  he  won  the  admiration  and 
love  of  fhe  people  by  giving  up  everything  to  find  and 
to  preach  salvation.  But  for  doing  so,  he  would  have 
bad  little  influence,  for  "  the  Asiatic  apostle  will  ever 
remain  an  ascetic,  a  celibate,  a  Fakeer."  Let  us  honour 
him  for  what  he  was  and  what  he  did  ;  let  us  direct  his 
followers  to  his  life  and  its  great  lessons ;  and  thus  we  may 
lead  them  from  the  light  to  be  found  in  him  to  the  Light 
of  the  World  ;  from  the  Buddha  who  never  sought  to  be 
worshipped,  to  the  Saviour,  who  claims  our  worship ; 
from  the  prophet  of  Kapilavastu  to  the  Son,  unto  whon> 
all  the  prophets  bear  witness. 

I  Mawfe*  Tk*  RtUcim*  ifOU  ITfrU,  •» 


J**x>V*Xj' 

-f*^XJL*. 

i'«*i^«*-k*A-x-^<w^t  u_ 


" 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


000  040  240 


